


More Than Just A Leitmotif, More Chaotic, No Relief.

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Future, Babies, Bottom Derek Hale, Breeding Cycle, Canonical Character Death, Childbirth, Dubious Consent, Genderbending, Hermaphrodites, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Omega Derek, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Top Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-26
Updated: 2012-10-05
Packaged: 2017-11-15 02:32:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/522185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek was never meant to be the Alpha and was raised to embrace his role as a Breeder for whatever Pack he was sent off to. But after the Fire and Laura's death, that was pushed into the background and almost forgotten by everyone. But with the Alpha Pack in town and Scott's defection, Derek's heat comes into full effect and the only logical choice is to have Stiles come and watch Derek. </p><p>The problem was that they didn't count on Stiles triggering Derek's biological imperatives and now the pack and everyone else has to deal with an incapacitated Derek, a Reluctant Alpha Stiles and a pack closing in too fast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm on Shifting Sand.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea was actually born out of a conversation I was having with a friend over AIM about Derek and Stiles and how both hide themselves and shield themselves from being hurt. The idea of Derek being utterly stripped to his bare essentials and forced to rely on someone (that being Stiles) while being vulnerable to them hit me hard as inspiration for this story. 
> 
> I also was curious to write a Derek that is fairly flawed and is aware of it and has to work through his issues along with Stiles, while not being the one who is in the position of power, as he often is. 
> 
> Also, in this story, Stiles is 17 close to 18, because his age is horribly disputed and since this is a future fic, I've taken liberties with his age.
> 
> Last thing, title is from Placebo's "Special K"

She was dying.  
  
Her blood was coming sluggishly now and she knew that she was done. She had been an alpha only in name and had only kept running with Derek in tow. The last Breeder of the Hale pack. She had never gotten revenge for her pack's death. Never gotten Derek a proper mating.  
  
It was too late.  
  
Someone would get him. Someone that would treat him as nothing more than a breeding factory and not cherish him like he is meant to be.  
  
Derek was always hers to protect and now that she's dying...  
  
She coughs and tries to take in a breath, only to choke on her own blood.  
  
She can only hope he will survive what comes after her death.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Derek lay in a curled up ball of abject misery. He's not felt this alone since the fire and since he found Laura's body in the woods. It was a Pyrrhic victory, that night. Scott had outright rejected him, Gerard had gotten away and now, they had to contend with the Alpha pack encroaching their territory. Erica and Boyd had been casualties of that first foray of the Alpha Pack and their loss ached.  
  
At least they had gained a new wolf and gotten rid of the kanima, but those were simply small gains for the losses that he felt they had incurred. He wanted to sleep and not wake up. To just hope that it was all going to magically get better and he would be back to being the Breeder, rather than be the reluctant leader of a diminished pack.  
  
He had to privately admit to himself that if he could,he'd give the Alpha title back to Peter if it meant that things would resolve themselves in a far better fashion than he had chosen to do them. But he also was wise enough to understand that his uncle was still crazier than the proverbial shithouse rat and that way lay far more destruction than he was willing to stomach.  
  
So he swallowed his apprehension and slowly uncurled his body and got out of bed, pulling on a shirt and jeans as he debated on what his next step would be. He knew that he would probably end up going to Stiles, despite knowing full well that Scott probably wouldn't be happy about the situation. He knew that it was a bit of a weakness in doing so, but he rationalized it to himself in that if he could convince Stiles that the Alpha situation could be a danger to Scott...Well, Stiles would do all in his power to help his friend out. And if he and his small pack gained from it...  
  
He knew it was devious and a bit underhanded, but he was desperate. He needed something to make such an uneven fight be somewhat tilted in their favour. And Stiles had always had something for him.  
  
Once he had talked himself into that course of action, Derek grabbed his jacket and was about to leave his nest when the pain unexpectedly hit his middle. He groaned and doubled over, his arms going round his abdomen as the pain forced him to slump down in his bed again. It was bad enough to bring tears to his eyes and to bury his face in his pillow to muffle his cries.  
  
But he knew it was pointless when Isaac and Peter are hovering and Isaac goes to him. Only to get warned off by Peter's growl.  
  
He missed Isaac's query and Peter's terse reply. His body is in horrible agony and burning from the inside out. Already, he can feel everything change on the verge of a heat he's not had in so long. He cries out again and he just misses the sound of Isaac fleeing.  
  
Peter says something, but he's too far gone in his agony to listen and it is then that he realizes he's alone and with no relief or answers in sight.  
  
Two  
  
Stiles was surprised to see Isaac standing in the middle of his room, fear and distress coming off of him in waves so strong that even as a human, Stiles could feel it. He carefully reached out to Isaac and was about to ask what had gotten him so riled up when Isaac himself spoke up.  
  
"There's something wrong with Derek." His matter of fact statement caught Stiles off-guard and his stomach clenched in fear at Isaac's words.  
  
"Is he hurt? Is it wolfsbane? Another pack?" Stiles asked as he frantically grabbed a backpack that he had stocked with supplies in case any of the wolves were injured. But Isaac shook his head.  
  
"He's in pain...and I think he's changing somehow. Peter wouldn't let me touch him. He said to come and get you. That you'd be able to fix him." Isaac replied.  
  
Stiles let out a short laugh at that.  
  
"Me? How am I going to fix him? Peter's crazy, because in case either of you haven't noticed...I'm not Doc Deaton, for one. Also, I'm a human. I research and occasionally make great ripostes. But I am not a savior."  
  
Isaac swallowed hard and stepped closer to Stiles, grabbing his shirt and pulling him close.  
  
"I know what you are and aren't. But right now, my Alpha's in agony and you're the best thing we've got. So try and pretend you can be one. And if not, just do it to save a friend."  
  
Stiles' mouth snapped shut. Isaac was right. He could stand there and babble to hide his insecurity and fear. Or he could man up and do what was asked of him. After all, he had done more for Scott.  
  
Besides, the thought of Derek being in agony and in the throes of a painful metamorphosis was eating at him. He hadn't ever left anyone knowingly in pain. He wasn't about to start now.  
  
"Okay. I'll drive us there. But if anyone asks, namely Scott, you have to answer for it. Got it?"  
  
Isaac nodded and let go of the fabric and followed Stiles, his agitation gone as he followed Stiles out.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Stiles guessed it was serious when he saw Peter waiting for them, his expression serious for once. His smirk was gone and he was pacing, stopping only once Stiles and Isaac got out of the jeep.  
  
"He's in his room. I'll take Isaac while you deal with Derek."  
  
"Whu-wait, What? No! You can't leave me alone with Derek! What's wrong with him that you have to take off and creep on Isaac?"  
  
Stiles blurted out, making Peter's eyes flash in annoyance.  
  
"Stiles, did Derek ever tell you what kind of a wolf he is?"  
  
Peter asked, derailing Stiles' thoughts.  
  
"He was a beta before and now he's an Alpha after he sliced you up?"  
  
Peter sighed and muttered something that made Isaac shoot a look of annoyance at the other wolf.  
  
"He's a breeder. I trust you know what means?" Peter asked sarcastically, making Stiles snort. Peter nodded.  
  
"That's why I can't be near him. Or Isaac. The urge would be too strong for us to mount him and yes, I know what you all think of me, but even I won't stoop to committing incest, thank you very much."  
  
"So you're telling me that killing your niece for power was well within your moral borders, yet diddling your own nephew falls beyond the pale? You really do have an odd way of looking at the world there, Pete."  
  
The nest thing that Stiles was aware of was of his head thumping painfully against the siding of the house and stars filling his vision. Once they cleared up, he was met with the angry glare of Peter holding him pinned against the front door. A door which he now noticed was covered in some kind of graffiti in red paint. Make that blood. He could smell the coppery scent of it now that he was pressed up against it.  
  
"Right now, I'm willing to overlook the snideness and sarcasm you've been spewing ever since I sent Isaac to get you. Only because if my nephew doesn't have someone with him, he could harm himself and we'd be again without an Alpha and defenseless. Not to mention that for some reason, he finds you useful. If it wasn't for these things, I'd eviscerate you. Are we clear?"  
  
Stiles nodded as much as he was able. "Crystal."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Derek's entire world consisted of pain and heat and an unfulfilled ache deep in his gut and between his legs. His mind was almost gone, so deeply sunk was he into his sudden and overwhelming heat. All he could think about was relieving the ache and being mounted and to fulfill his purpose of giving life to new cubs and continuing his pack.  
  
He had already torn off his clothes and already the wetness was dripping down his legs and thighs to pool underneath into the bedding. He groaned, deep in his throat and tried to ease the ache by pressing his legs together and rubbing his tailbone down into the soaked blankets. He knew from experience that if he tried anything more, the ache would be even worse.  
  
"Derek?" A familiar voice cut through his haze and it stopped him from feeling the painful burning cresting higher to the point that he thought he would be burned up to a crisp. But only for a moment before it came back in full force and made his entire world completely be engulfed in desire again. He whined deep in his throat when someone (An Alpha. An Alpha. An Alpha, his mind screamed out in glee) touched his forehead, making everything clear up so that he could finally focus on who was touching him.  
  
"S-stiles?" He whispered through cracked lips as his eyes met Stiles's own, which were huge with surprise and pity.  
  
"Y-yeah...It's me. You're going to be okay, Derek. It's going to be okay."  
  
Stiles told him, cutting contact off as he put his backpack down and tried to not pay attention to a naked Derek writhing in sheets that were soaked with something that was making his dick grow completely hard and awkward in his jeans. He was here to baby-sit Derek and make sure that he wasn't going to go berserk, not perv on him.  
  
Derek cried out at the loss of contact and reached out for Stiles' hand.  
  
"K-k-keep touching me. God! Please keep..." The rest of the words were lost in a high cry of pain as Derek grabbed his hand and yanked him forward, pulling him flush against his naked chest.  
  
Stiles yelped and tried to pull away, but Derek obviously was stronger and kept him in place. The only movement he made was to bury his nose into the juncture of Stiles' neck and shoulder and breathe in the scent.  
  
"Uh...Derek...Derek...although I'm flattered-"  
  
"Stiles. Shut up."  
  
Stiles snapped his mouth shut at the command and laid there, listening to the rapid beat of Derek's heart and trying unsuccessfully to not grind his erection into the hard flesh of Derek's thigh.  
  
He knew he had failed when Derek shifted his legs and Stiles' erection was now nestled between his legs. Right against what Stiles swore was a wet cunt. When the contact happened, Derek's hips snapped up and Stiles let out a sharp cry. He was NOT about to let his dick dictate his actions! Not when Derek was so messed up and not in control of himself. He wasn't going to take advantage of him.  
  
"Stiles...Stiless...I...I..."  
  
"What? What do you want me to do?"  
  
Derek pulled his face out from the crook of Stiles' neck and looked at him with red eyes.  
  
"Breed me."  
  



	2. Gravity, No Escaping Gravity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Stiles complies with the request and ends up getting his v-card punched. He should have known that it was going to be too damned good to not get fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexytimes. Messy ones at that, with tons of snarking afterwards, because it just wouldn't be Derek and Stiles without that. I also have Stiles and Derek both questioning their feelings...yet totally denying them all because they're more repressed than Puritans when it comes to emotions, cause that's how they roll.

Stiles' mind stuttered to a complete and utter stop after Derek's words sunk in. Even though he knew it was a serious matter, he didn't catch on how serious it was until the implications hit him. Derek was demanding something that he wasn't sure he could just give.

"Are you...I mean...it's a big thing. Are you sure you want me?"

Derek growled at him and showed his canines to Stiles before he keened and rubbed against Stiles' cock. This made Stiles gasp and groan and buck against the wet heat underneath him that has already seeped through and saturated everything with its scent. He groaned in response and moved in Derek's loosened grasp to press his forehead against Derek's cheek.

A pained cry is the only reply he got and he wanted to backpedal and get the hell away until he felt Derek's temperature spike even more. He raised his head just barely and swore softly under his breath. He saw that despite the flush, Derek was looking as grey as when he was shot and his eyes had bled out so much colour that they were a dead faded blue.

So much for not giving in and being a moral man and just being called to watch over a sick Derek. If it was in a normal circumstance with Derek being in his right mind and giving willing consent, he would have been all over the chance to get his V-card punched. But right now, it was far from ideal and the implications of his actions would have severe repercussions.

This wasn't the same as sneaking out with Scott into the woods or skipping out on detention and class. He knew what breeding entailed. He would be forever tied to Derek and he still didn't know if that would be a bad thing or not. Especially since there wouldn't be anything produced from this.

He bit his lip and disentangled himself from Derek, making the wolf's breathing speed up and his head to fall limply to the side. Both of those things were NOT good signs at all. So Stiles muttered something under his breath, low enough to not even know what he had said before stripping off all his clothes rapidly and throwing them across the room.

He had a feeling that he wasn't going to be needing them anytime soon and that his reservations would have to be dealt with at a later time, when he was far away from this madness and he had quiet to be able to forgive himself for what he was going to do.

Right now, He had to focus on not hurting Derek and making the best that he could of the situation.

Once he was naked, he took a deep breath and moved quickly to lie next to Derek, who stirred and stopped looking so corpse like once they had resumed contact with each other.

"Okay. Okay."

He found himself muttering before he moved so he was on top of Derek, his weight supported on his knees and elbows and kissed him.

~*~*~*~*~

Derek had fallen into a dark void the moment that the contact had snapped between them. He was already feeling as if what he had been was almost completely burnt away. He hadn't expected for it to turn out any different, but he had to admit that he was slightly disappointed it had turned out that way. The only comfort now was that he wasn't the one to deal with the wolf problems in Beacon Hills any longer.

Another short lived Alpha to add to their history books, he supposed.

But then the taste of wintergreen and musk invaded his mouth and all thoughts of burning to ash disappeared. He clung onto flesh and opened his mouth wider to let the flavour fill him completely, tuning everything out.

He opened his eyes and was met with the sight of a flushed Stiles pulling away just so, his lips a dark pink and wet with saliva. His expression was one of wonder mixed with disbelief and the way that his tongue kept darting in and out of his mouth made Derek forget anything else but to have him kiss him again.

Stiles understood his desire and kissed him again, this time deepening the kiss so that he was sucking on Derek's tongue, tasting all of him and then some. His hands weren't idle either and Derek moaned into Stiles mouth as Stiles' hand trailed down leisurely from his pebbled nipples down to the flat planes of his belly and to the edge of his hip.

Stiles broke the kiss noisily, panting and gasping as he looked down at Derek, who only looked at him in bewilderment at the abrupt stop. Stiles only held onto his gaze as he slid down his body. Derek stopped breathing as he watched Stiles do this. He kept holding his breath until Stiles pressed a soft kiss on the juncture of his hip, trailing kisses until... He didn't dare hope that...

"Oh!" It was torn out of him when he felt Stiles' mouth on his cunt. His hands scrabbled for purchase on the sheets and his hips canted forward to allow easier access. Stiles licked him in broad swipes while his thumb pressed down on the nub that his dick had become, making Derek scream and pant in reckless and vocal abandon.

He couldn't control the sounds spilling out of him as Stiles worked his magic, twirling his tongue and darting it in and out of the opening as skilfully as if he had been doing this all his life. Derek came, again and again until Stiles finally pulled away and rested his soaked face on Derek's equally wet thigh.

By that time, Derek was lying completely splayed and looking so wanton that anyone in the vicinity would be hard pressed to resist him.

Stiles saw this, but didn't stop to take in the view. He did appreciate seeing Derek so open and so vulnerable and did press another kiss onto his thigh, giving it aoft nip before moving away. He couldn't linger. Not when he desperately needed to bury himself into that tight entrance that he had been only tasting the edges of. A taste that he couldn't get enough of now that he was close to it.

It wasn't musky or strong. But it was a spicy citrus that had just the slightest tinge of Derek's usual scent. It was subtle and intoxicating and part of the reason why he had spent what felt like hours between his thighs. It wasn't what he had expected, but it was something that he could get used to being immersed in over and over again.

But right now, he was aching so badly he was positive his balls were indigo. He needed to bury himself in that heat and give Derek what he wanted and was writhing for. What he came here for.

Wiping his face only just, Stiles moved sluggishly over Derek's body until he was in the same position that they had started in. But this time, he had made sure that he had opened up those folds with his fingers before slipping his cock to rest at the entrance. Once he was satisfied with its position, he gave Derek a quick kiss.

"Okay?" He whispered, his voice hoarse and without inflection as he spoke.

Derek's eyes widened at the question, but before he could reply, Stiles moved his hips and Derek's head was thrown back, his mouth open in a wordless cry. His hands flew to Stiles' hips and he forced Stiles deeper inside, crying out at the sweet agony of being filled. Stiles himself closed his eyes and thought of nothing in order to not come too damned fast. Although Derek was trying to force him to move, he stayed still until he was sure he wasn't going to embarrass himself.

"Let go." He whispered, not moving until Derek's hands just rested on his hips before he started to thrust, slow at first to test the waters; then faster when he realized that Derek didn't need gentle anymore. Not after the first breach.

That was when he began to thrust and jerk his hips faster and faster, not caring that there was sweat running down his back and soaking into the blankets and sheets that will need to be burned once they are done. They're completely soaked and are uncomfortable as he thrust deep into Derek, finesse all but forgotten as he reached that imaginary finishing line that was looming closer and closer until his body finally stiffened up and his vision exploded in a colourful wash of stars and supernovas.

He didn't even bother keeping his weight off of Derek, collapsing once he had been completely drained dry. Derek gasped in his ear and Stiles would swear that it felt as if he was being milked. Derek's body clenched and tightened around him until his dick was finally soft enough to slip out.

It was only then that he rolled over and lay beside Derek in the sweaty and damp mess of blankets and sheets. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows that he should get up and maybe get some water and strip the bed and get a new mattress. But the idea is pushed out of his mind when Derek moves onto his side and puts his leg over Stiles' hips and pins him there.

"Not yet." Derek murmurs before he snuggles into Stiles' chest and closes his eyes, falling into an exhausted sleep that Stiles himself can't resist either.

~*~*~*~*~

Stiles is jolted awake by the insistent beeping of his phone, which is thankfully muffled by in being buried under his clothes. Clothes that he promises himself he will bury in a dumpster once he gets a whiff of them as he is digging through them for his phone. He looks over to the other occupant of the rank bed only to find him sleeping the sleep of the dead and still not back to his usual self.

Stiles only looked at his messages and scrolled past forty messages of Scott's and a few from his father. All of them are the same variation of the same thing: Where is he and when is he going to answer his phone.

Sighing, Stiles fired off two messages telling them that he is fine and on his way home and no, he doesn't want to talk about what he was doing and it was nothing illegal (I swear, Dad). Once that was done, he padded down the mostly whole hallway and into a bathroom that was blessedly whole and modern.

He didn't hesitate to get under the spray and wash all traces of his mating with Derek away. He knew, without understanding, that it wasn't done. He wasn't supposed to even be attractive to Derek in the best circumstances, never mind when he was ruled by hormones that he couldn't control nor master. He needed to get rid of the evidence and do it before Peter and Isaac and even Scott smelled Derek's sweetly changed scent on him.

He does short work of cleaning up, even when he soaps and rinses himself off at least three times until he is positive he simply smells of Dove shampoo and soap. It's not overpowering, but it does the trick.

He dries off and goes to the bag that he had dropped earlier, thanking his lucky stars that he had thought to include a plastic bag and a change of clothes.

Watching the door, he got dressed and shoved his dirty clothes into a small bundle and into the plastic bag. Once that was done, he looked over the bed to see Derek had woken up at some point and was now watching him with more lucidity than he had shown in the past little while.

"Uh...Well...I guess I'd better get going now, since you're not in any danger of combustion or anything lethal of that nature." Stiles said, grabbing the plastic bag and the backpack, only to be stopped by the door flying open to show Peter looking at him through narrowed eyes, while Isaac whined and stood watching his Alpha, who was just moving to sit up, the dirty blankets covering his lap as he did so.

No one moved to stop him and he exited the house under a fog of awkwardness and a surreal sense of triumph.

The odd thing was that the triumph wasn't his.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Is it over?" Peter asked him as he took the bedding and mattress to the backyard and doused it with lighter fluid before flicking matches and setting it all on fire. He had thought that he could salvage it, but everything was completely saturated. There was no way that he'd be able to get both the smell and the stains out. He would have never guessed that there would be so much blood. Yes, it was diluted by the secretions, but it still looked bad.

Peter didn't follow and only waited for Derek to come back to the house. Peter Hale and fire would never be on friendly terms, before or after death. Once the bonfire had died down, Derek went back to the house and faced his uncle.

Derek didn't want to answer, but nodded tersely anyways. It wasn't as if he could keep it a secret. And he also had questions of his own to ask as well.

"Why Stiles?"

Peter gave him a long look at that.

"Who else would you have rather be there?"

Derek thought about it and only nodded. There wasn't anyone else. Isaac wasn't anywhere near an Alpha. Scott would probably have let him burn and Peter...no.

Stiles was always the rational choice to save him and to give advice ( _feel secure_ ). He was the only one that he could truly trust ( _he missed him already_ )in such a delicate matter as his heat.

"When are you back to normal? I mean, completely?" Peter asked, vaguely waving his hand in the direction of Derek's lower half.

"A day or so. If anything happens...not until the litter's born."

Derek replied, turning away from the conversation and signalling that it was over. He didn't want to think about living without his junk and it was weird enough to still be dealing with the dampness and soreness of being fucked into bliss.

He paused when he realized he had thought of his dick and corresponding bits as "junk". He really had been hanging out with Stiles far too long.

He shook his head and went to his room. He had a bedroom to air out and a new bed to put together.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Stiles didn't think that he was going to see Derek so damned soon. He figured that after that interlude he still dreamed about and woke to stained sheets and dirty track bottoms, he wasn't going to see him for at least a couple of weeks. Or whenever the Alphas made their move.

He had been prepared for that eventuality, and had stockpiled information and plans just in case.

He also had avoided everyone, if he was honest with himself. Although the memories were amazing and he did occasionally find himself wondering how Derek was doing, he still couldn't really justify what amounted to taking advantage of a friend that had been more or less roofied by his own biology. He had done his research and understood that it had been a necessary evil. He had come prepared with that knowlege, but he still felt like a dick and was going to have to eventually learn to forgive himself for it, or forget about it.

Especially since he knew that only a very painful and pointy death awaited him if he ever brought it up to Derek. He had a feeling that was yet another one of those things that ended up like the Fight Club rules: You just didn't talk about it.

So it was quite a surprise to him when the time of reckoning finally happened. Apocalypses and death? Totally ready. So no one could blame him for being totally caught unawares when  Derek, Peter and Isaac again making themselves at home and nearly giving him a panic attack when they showed up after he went to take a plate and an empty can downstairs.

"Jesus! Have any of you creepers every heard of the front door? What is it with your aversion to doors? And why my bedroom? Is there a neon sign that proclaims this is-"

"Stiles, shut up." Isaac ordered, making Stiles fall silent in open mouthed shock at being spoken like that by Isaac, of all wolves.

He looked at Peter, but the older wolf was ignoring him in favour of watching his nephew, who wasn't pacing or creeping as usual.

"Don't tell me he's sick again." Stiles blurted out, clearly unnerved by the sight of Derek looking listless and weak as he lay on Stiles' bed curled up protectively around his middle.

"Not quite." Peter replied before he snapped his gaze to Stiles.

"I guess virgins really are the secret ingredient to making anything work. It's either that, or the Stilinksi men have super-sperm that can even knock up werewolf breeders."

Peter added, making Stiles turn a sickening shade of white-green.

"Fuck my life. Seriously. Fuck it in the ear."

"Well, if you had-"

"Shut up Peter. Just shut up before I throw you out the window."

"Noted."

"So...who gets to tell Scott he's going to be an uncle?"

"The shutting up order also included you, Isaac."

"Oh."


	3. No Escaping Gravity, Not For Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Isaac plays messenger, Stiles, Peter and Derek finally have one of the many conversations they need to have and Stiles takes the first tentative steps in making decisions against the threats that their pack and by extension, Beacon Hills face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another part written while on AIM and there is quite a bit of scene-setting and conversations...and internalizing. This is also the part where we get to see more of what is going on in both Derek and Stiles's heads as they cope with what is coming next. 
> 
> Also, in a bit of biology-Just think of what you learned in Bio 20/30 (Alberta for the win!) regarding heredity. In this universe, pregnancies are a bit shorter and Derek's body has completely shifted for him to be able to give birth and carry to term. That is what makes him rare and also, a prize.

  
Scott wasn't expecting for Isaac to address him directly, never mind to show up at his house with a determined expression on his face. Isaac had potential, they all knew that. But it was seldom displayed and the sight of him on his porch, looking at him fixedly with gold eyes was enough to unnerve him.

"Hey! Isaac! What are you doing here?" Scott asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion that wouldn't have been there months ago.

But if Isaac noticed, he chose to ignore it and that baffled and stung at his pride, since Scott did technically outrank Isaac on the totem pole. Hell, even Stiles outranked him. But that wasn't the point.

"We're having a meeting this Thursday. You and the hunters. Seven o'clock at Stiles' house."

Was all Isaac said to him before turning on his heel to leave.

"Wait! Why are we meeting? And who says we're going to be there."

Scott asked, reaching out to grab Isaac's arm and stop him. But Isaac twisted and snarled, avoiding his grip.

"You will be there, because you want to live and you want Allison to come back to you and we're facing a real threat. So that's why you'll come."

Isaac growled at him before straightening out his jacket.

"What's the threat? And why are you telling me this, rather than Stiles or Derek?"

Isaac only looked at him and shook his head.

"Not my place to say, McCall. I'm just a messenger." Isaac's mouth twisted at the last word before he turned to walk away.

"A reluctant one at that. I remember what you said to Derek that night. Don't think it's all water under the bridge." Isaac shot at him before disappearing in what seemed like a split second. One moment he was there, the next he was simply gone.

Scott stood there and growled in frustration before going back to his house, his phone already in hand as he walked in and shut the door behind him. He scrolled through his messages and fond his inbox empty except for a message from Isaac.

He opened it, hoping that it was something to brighten his day, but it was word for word the same thing that Isaac had just told him.

He snarls again, but doesn't throw the phone. He tamps down that impulse and simply goes to his room. He had a game on pause and he might as well finish his solitary Call of Duty marathon and hope that Stiles finally replies to his texts.

He's already sent ten. He figures anymore would border on needy and pathetic and he figured that he had enough pride to not show it to his best friend. Even though he was extremely tempted to.

~*~*~*~*

Derek's still sleeping when Isaac comes back, a thoughtful expression on his face when he climbs in through the window.

"Did you give him the message?" Peter asked while Stiles took the time to look at Derek, who was still deeply asleep and unaware of anything happening around him.

"About the meeting, yes. About Derek breeding? I didn't think it was my place and it's not like he would believe me either."

Isaac turned to look at Stiles, who finally tore his gaze away from Derek's unconscious form.

"You're right. It should be Derek's deci-"

"No. It's yours. Derek's yours, by pack law. Whatever he had, it automatically goes to you instead."

Peter broke in, his voice utterly without inflection as he spoke.

Stiles head shot up and his mouth fell open at Peter's matter of fact statement.

"How very Game of Thrones of you. A family and a dowry all in one. And yet after knowing all of that...you didn't take advantage?"

Stiles blurted out, running his hands nervously through his hair.

"I'm surprised. I mean, isn't it all about power with you? He wouldn't have turned you away if you had been there instead of me."

Peter growled, his eyes flashing blue as he turned to look at Stiles.

"As hard as it might be for you to believe...I do have the pack's interests at heart. Yes, I could have taken him without a fight. But after that? How do you think he would have dealt with not only his body betraying him...but also to give birth to a litter conceived with his uncle?"

Stiles wrinkled his nose in acknowledgement at the sheer horror of the situation as it was presented to him. He had only meant to get a dig in, but Peter was determined to make him realize that the ends justified the means in their situation. Even if it meant that leadership was to be given to a human.

and Stiles knew that if he was facing an Alpha pack, that probably was going to change at some point.

That was if he didn't end up coming up with a plan that was usually fifty percent genius, twenty five percent execution and twenty five percent luck. He had a feeling that he was going to need to re-arrange those numbers somehow if that was the case.

"Exactly. Not to mention that we didn't think that you could get him breeding. It's..."

"Supposed to be practically impossible. Only born potential Alphas should have that right." Derek's voice, low and roughened with exhaustion cut into the conversation.

Stiles wrinkled his noise again.

"So how did me and my magic sperm manage it then?"

Derek choked on a growl and glared at Stiles, but it had no effect when he was simply too exhausted after the metamorphosis and now, the gestation taking place in his body. If Stiles didn't think he was going to get gutted, he would have compared Derek with a grumpy puppy. But he valued his life and he was sure once the dust settled, his body would probably meet the wall fairly fast if he had followed his impulses.

"I might hazard a guess that you could carry the gene and Derek being a breeder triggered the conception. Or the most simple explanation is simply the universe just likes to fuck with you, Stilinski."

Peter cut in, making Isaac snort and Derek growl under his breath.

"Yeah, don't quit your day job there, Pete. Point taken. So I'm the interim Alpha until...." He trailed off as he looked at Derek and he had to admit that it was less unnerving having him glaring than being either biologically roofied or dead to the world.

"When exactly are you...uhm...having the...uhm...baby?"

Derek rubbed his face roughly and Stiles saw that it was an effort for him to even do that. His movements were sluggish and his eyes were drooping and he looked like he could use another nap, even though Stiles was pretty sure that wasn't the first nap of the day. Nor the last.

"The litter will be here in about seven months. But even then, I won't be an Alpha." Derek's lips twisted in something that was a cross between a snarl and a rueful grin.

"I was never meant to be an Alpha and once I breed..." He cut himself off and scrubbed at his eyes again before he sat back in the bed. He looked like he was already half asleep and his face was going that alarming off-grey again.

Peter sighed knelt to look at his nephew, his eyes and movements telegraphing the distress that he wasn't voicing. Distress that Stiles felt partially responsible for, since he had fucked Derek and put him in this situation, more or less.

"What the hell is wrong with him? He's looking almost as bad as the time he got shot! Is he going to die after all of this is done?"

Stiles asked, moving closer to Derek and tilting his head up to examine him.

He got his answer when Derek's eyes fluttered a bit and his skin tone evened out just a bit. He still looked horrible, but not as horrible as before, making him swear under his breath as he realized that it was almost the same situation as when he had found Derek.

He looked at Peter and his nostrils flared with anger as it finally dawned on him what else being the Alpha entailed. He had assumed that the bond that he had entered into would simply be in regards to being with Derek. He had never assumed that he was going to be a teen father to the new generations of Hales. Nor did he assume, in his wildest dreams that he was the reason that Derek wasn't slipping into a coma.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Stiles asked, his voice harsh with a rage he was trying to keep controlled. Derek's eyes were mostly open, but he wasn't really registering what was going on just yet and he didn't want to lash out at Derek. It simply sucked for him and he was just along for the ride and Stiles could really relate to that feeling.

Besides, he wasn't an asshole for the sake of being an asshole. And right now, he was walking a thin line.

"There hasn't been a Breeder since Derek was born. All our books were lost. All our histories were burnt up. Yes, we needed you to be part of the pack. But this...You're not the only one reeling from it."

Peter snapped back.

"So what the hell do you want me to do?"

"Be the Alpha and protect your pack."

~*~*~*~*~

Allison was checking the tension of her crossbow when her phone beeped. she was going to ignore it, but when she saw that it was Scott's number, she picked it up.

Even though they had agreed that it was all strictly business between them, she couldn't stop the small flutter under her rib-cage. She still loved Scott. No matter what happened, she knew that feeling wasn't going to ever fade.

Sighing again at the events that led them there, she opened the message and read it. Frowning, she put her bow away and shoved her phone in her back pocket.

"Dad?"

Chris Argent looked up from the pot of chili he was stirring and moved away from it to talk to his daughter. She took out her phone and gave it to her father, who looked at the message still on the screen.

He read it and handed the phone back to his daughter and waited for her to speak.

"We should go." She finally said, her eyes darting back and forth as she weighed the pros and cons of her decision.

"There should be an alliance from outside threats. It would go far to keep Beacon Hills safe." Chris pointed out, avoiding the topic of Scott altogether.

"That would be ideal. It could also help in moving on...after..."

Allison bit her lip and nodded. She missed her aunt. She missed her mother and she missed Scott. But once she had calmed down, she began to understand that not everything was black and white and that yes, she had acted out of grief and nearly killed or hurt others in her blind rage and grief.

She hadn't been able to apologize. She didn't think she could face any of them to do so. But at least if they met in neutral ground...it could be a step in the right direction.

"Tell him we'll come."

~*~*~*~*~

"What are you going to decide?" Derek asked Stiles once they were alone in his room, Peter and Isaac having gone with the promise to come back tomorrow and hear Stiles' decision. But they had left Derek behind, as per Stiles' request once he had had figured out Derek needed him around to function.

Stiles turned his head to look at Derek, who was curled up on his side, his arm resting on his middle. His fingers, Stiles noticed, curled and uncurled in a weak stroking motion. Stiles couldn't help but to be fascinated by that gesture, since it made the news more real.

He was going to be a father. To Derek Hale's children. Derek Hale, who used to slam him into doors and could give lessons on creeping. Who always seemed to be utterly disgruntled about everything...was now lying in his bed, waiting for him to give him an answer.

"I don't know." Stiles replied truthfully, turning completely to face Derek. His mate. He was still not used to that idea and he seriously wondered if he ever would be.

"This isn't like taking a shift at a game or covering for Scott. I'm you...minus the brooding and violent impulses. And human. Can't forget human. What exactly do you expect me to do?"

Stiles asked, his voice low at the last question, yet filled with a sharp urgency that Derek recognized in his own thoughts when he was trying to establish himself as Alpha and get his pack together and sorted out. It wasn't an easy position to be in and he felt a slight twinge of guilt at having thrust it at an eighteen year old human.

He hadn't meant for it to happen. He had only wanted help. But his nature had dictated that he would get more than he had asked for. He was again a Breeder and already, he could feel his powers diminishing and the connection to Stiles tightening and strengthening. He was no longer the Alpha. Only in name.

But at least he could offer what advice he could now that he was only close to the Alpha, but not bearing the weight of responsibility himself. He had learned something after that brief time. He hoped that he could be more successful mentoring Stiles than he was with Scott.

Derek moved closer to Stiles and leaned against him, realizing too late what he was doing. Stiles must have noticed, but apart from the slight stiffening of Stiles body, he didn't do anything else and that silent acceptance went far in making him stop feeling so mortified and awkward at this new desire to be in contact with his mate and Alpha as much as possible.

It also did much to ease the uneasiness that came with knowing he was properly helpless until at least the first three months had passed. It wasn't completely gone, but it was assuaged somewhat.

"I expect you to do a better job than I did." Derek finally replied and Stiles snorted.

"You tried, at least." Stiles replied, leaning slightly into Derek as he looked at him.

"Not your fault that things got weird."

Derek snorted at that and let his eyes slip shut.

"But seriously. What do you expect me to do?"

"What you always do."

"What's that?"

"Keep us safe. Keep us alive."

Stiles sighed heavily before turning to look at Derek.

"As a human, or as a wolf?"

Derek opened his eyes at that.

"That is up to you to decide, Stiles. But remember that whatever you decide, it's not just me and Peter and Isaac."

Stiles nodded.

"I know."

Derek nodded before his eyes closed and he was out, leaving Stiles supporting his weight.

"Well, fuck."

He was still in the same place, but with more responsibilities thrown at him.

~*~*~*~*

She turned to her brother, her eyes glowing red in the light as she looked at him.

"Why haven't they come? Was our message not enough?"

He shrugged and looked at the fire he was poking.

"Patience. If they don't arrive, then the Hale territory is ours without a fight."

She pouted. "But I want a fight."

He laughed. "Then wait. Even if it's not a good one, we will get it."

Her eyes shone at the promise. 

"And then?"

"Hale will breed us a new pack."


	4. Just Like I Swallowed Half My Stash and I Never Want To Crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson's brought up to speed and Stiles weighs the pros and cons of his decisions. But Scott, with his perfect timing, comes and forces Stiles' hand in ways that will affect not just Stiles, but Scott and Derek as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another setting up chapter, but it was hard to write, due to all the emotional upheaval between Scott and Stiles and Derek. I know that there's quite a bit of internal monologue going on in Derek and Stiles' thoughts, but I get the impression that they have these stream of consciousness monologues while they figure stuff out.
> 
> I swear that more action is going to come now that all the major pieces are on the board and that the next chapter won't be as emotionally heavy as this one. 
> 
> I blame the soundtrack-Apocalyptica's "Betrayal/Forgiveness" and "Farewell" Just to give you a hint. 
> 
> And I keep forgetting, but yes, the lyrics are from Placebo's "Special K"
> 
> Onwards!

"We need you to be there, Jackson." Peter told Jackson as they stood face to face outside Jackson's house. Lydia was upstairs, watching from a safe distance. She still hadn't gotten over Peter using her as a conduit for his resurrection and Jackson wasn't about to let Peter near her. Even if he was pack.

"Pack business?" Jackson asked, his tone wary as he leaned against his car and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"That and self-preservation. This pack isn't going to stop when they get our lands. They will wipe us out and at this moment, we're badly outgunned."

Jackson frowned. "What happened to Boyd and Erica?"

Peter only gave him a long and lingering look that made Jackson look away and nod in understanding.

"And Derek? Surely he counts for three of us."

Peter didn't reply at that. He just looked at Jackson in a way that made his skin crawl. Something was wrong. Very wrong, or else they wouldn't be out there talking.

"I know what category you fall into, Jackson. But I can at least count on you wanting to keep Lydia safe. If you won't do it for the pack, you can do it for her at least."

Jackson's mouth twitched angrily.

"What the hell is wrong with Derek that you're pulling in all of us?"

Peter shook his head. "I can't tell you at this point in time. Just show up on Tuesday. Stilinski's house in the evening. You'll find out then."

Jackson wanted to protest and dig out the information, but the look in Peter's eyes stopped him from protesting any further. Yes, he was a werewolf like him, but he had most of his sanity and he had seen Peter lose control.

"Got the message loud and clear. You'll see me there."

Peter nodded before disappearing, unnerving Jackson even more than his strange summons.

~*~*~*~*

After he extricated himself from Derek, cleaned up and then checked his phone (and deleted all the messages without looking at them) he wandered into his father's room and flopped down on the bed. Normally, he wouldn't dare breach his father's privacy like that. But he needed the familiar to think about the decision that he knew was looming over his head.

And that he couldn't put off any longer.

He had always said that he wasn't going to turn. Even when Peter had dangled it in front of him and Lydia had been hurt...He hadn't wavered. He couldn't waver. He didn't want to lose who he was. Didn't want to be so confused and bitter like Scott, who was constantly in flux beforehand.

He also knew that if he accepted, he'd lose his father. He didn't want to lose the only person that loved him unconditionally. Yes, Scott was his friend, but there were limits to their friendship. He had seen that it was pretty conditional. Especially when Allison was in the picture.

He really couldn't begrudge Scott for that. Scott just didn't think along those lines. Eventually, he assumed that Scott would understand. But it wasn't in his nature to be introspective. It just...

Stiles had accepted that years ago. Just like he had accepted that he was probably going to have to learn how to live alone and like it.

He had learned, through the death of his mother and hovering over his father, how to do that. Not perfectly, since he still relied on Scott, but he was working on it.

He looked around the room and his eyes fell on the picture his father kept of him and his mom on their wedding day. There was another picture of all three of them, taken right after he had been born and he flinched at the sight of him as a red-faced baby in his mother's arms and his father smiling at the camera. He honestly didn't remember the last time his dad had looked so happy.

He wondered as he stared at the picture, whether it could be possible for him and Derek to have that closeness. That sense of family again. He only had it for a brief time, but he ached with the knowledge of losing it. Derek had had it and losing it had gutted him.

Stiles didn't want to take the chance. It hurt too much to let anyone in. But he also knew that if he did accept and traded out his lonely and fragile human existence, he would gain much more than just Derek's respect and eternal gratefulness.

He'd get a family and he'd get someone by his side. A damaged someone, but he wasn't exactly pristine himself. Derek was pretty raw. Worse than he was and Stiles could see, despite the physical hardships, that this meant so much to him.

He was getting a small piece of his family back and he was finally in the role he was meant to take. It was obvious in how much more relaxed and talkative he was being and how he was losing quite a bit of his violent impulses. if Isaac was completely at ease at being with him and even Peter wasn't afraid to come close...that meant that Derek was completely at ease within his own skin and not driven to act out of desperation.

_"Would it be so hard, Stiles? To give them what they want? To give them someone that they need? To have someone with you for the rest of your life?"_

He wanted to tell that voice to shut up and mind its own business. He had plans to get out. To get to University and get a degree a good job and most importantly, a life outside of being the Sheriff's son or Scott's weird friend and that kid with the crush on Lydia Martin.

If he accepted...he would be tied to Beacon Hills for the rest of his life. He would have children and he would have Derek at his side. Derek, whom he wasn't sure where he stood with him. He knew for sure that they had gotten past antagonistic awkwardness after mutually saving each other.

And now that he'd gotten up close and personal with his bits (He was totally refusing to think about the implications of their encounter. He just didn't think he was ready to deal with that in any capacity. Or at least until Derek finally woke up enough to talk)he knew that they couldn't go back to their roles of sniping and dancing their little awkward dance around each other again. He didn't think it was possible. Especially not when children were involved.

And even though it was weird and not at all ideal, he figured that was enough of a foundation to build up something on. After all, he had managed to become friends with Scott after the Incident involving glitter and macaroni...so he figured that he and Derek could do something similar.

And if it went further than that...He had to admit that he wasn't adverse to the idea. Derek, despite the broken and cracked bits, was a decent person that was trying to do his best. He couldn't say that many others even got that far.

He stood up and walked around the room a few times, weighing pros and cons on what he was going to do when he came face to face with a furious Scott.

"Scott! What the hell?" Stiles yelped, falling onto his dad's bed in surprise.

"What the hell? Stiles, I should be asking you that! You haven't replied to any of my message and why the hell is Derek passed out in your bed smelling of milk?"

Stiles shook his head and pressed his lips together as he tried to formulate an answer to both appease Scott and get rid of him. He did love Scott, but sometimes, he had the shittiest timing.

"I've been a bit busy, Scott. It's been a sort of annoyingly busy month. Besides, it's not as if we're joined at the hip. You didn't have any problems not communicating when Allison was around."

Stiles felt bad for saying that and regretted the words the moment that he had spoken them.

Scott's face crumpled into shock and Stiles swore quietly before stepping forward and putting his hand out in apology.

"Shit. I'm sorry Scott. That just...look. I'm sorry for being gone. There's a really, really good explanation for that. Which you have to wait two days for."

Scott was still stunned, but he grudgingly nodded his head at Stiles' words.

"Okay. Okay. What about Derek being in your bed and smelling of milk?"

Stiles cringed and his face contorted into an awkward grimace when he realized that he didn't have an excuse for having the Alpha sleeping in his bed.

"Uh. That. Uhm...Can we just say that he's staying over for a very good reason and that dairy is involved in a vague, yet non-threatening way?"

Scott's face scrunched up into a familiar expression of confusion.

"Wait? What? Stiles...You're being weirder than usual. Like seriously. what the hell is going on? I know Derek sneaks into places, but the fact that he's lying there, sleeping as if he owns your bed is just a little too weird for me to take."

Stiles bit his lip hard as he debated telling Scott about Derek and his proposition. Scott had made it clear that he wasn't part of Derek's pack. Nor would he follow him. Ergo, Derek being a breeder and his mate and him being the Alpha incumbent were none of his business.

But then...there was an alliance to be built. Derek, the cubs and the others were his responsibility.

And Scott was his best friend.

"Look...It's seriously complicated. I mean, seriously."

Scott nodded.

"And I need for you to keep your mouth shut. At least until Tuesday. Because God help you, Scott. If you tell anyone, you're screwing everyone over. Not just Derek and the pack or me."

"Stiles! Come on! You're my best-"

"Scott. Just listen for once! It's not just about me or our friendship or whether we'll eventually make up or whatever. Look, Derek is much more than a Beta turned Alpha. He can have kids with Alphas."

Scott's mouth fell open at that, but he wasn't backing away or yelling at Stiles just yet, so he figured that he might as well go for it.

"And he's pregnant now. With my kids."

"Are you seriously joking? Stiles...what the fuck? Do you seriously expect me to believe that?"

"Scott...you're a mythical creature. I think that unless disproved otherwise, we can assume anything is in the realm of possibility. So yes, Derek is pregnant and he's one of the few wolves that can do that and he's carrying my kids."

Stiles swore that he could pinpoint the exact moment where Scott's brain simply stuttered to a stop and couldn't compute anything else.

"Stiles...seriously man. That's...how does that even happen?"

"Well, when a Breeder goes into heat, his entire body changes-"

"Wait, so-"

"I'm not going there, so shut up. We slept together and yeah, he's pregnant and I'm the stand-in Alpha that is calling that fucking meeting so that none of us get killed. Especially Derek."

Scott's face darkened at that.

"You are the Alpha?"

"Well, the human version of one. Derek's powers are supposed to pass on to me once I make a decision...but the Alpha Pack isn't going to wait for that, that's why we need an alliance, which hopefully happens on Tuesday."

Scott's mouth worked and Stiles didn't need to be a werewolf to see that his friend was pissed.

"So why you? I'm technically an Alpha...so why are you the one who got the powers and the say so?"

Stiles blinked at him.

"Scott...are you seriously pissed about that? I NEVER asked for it to happen! It just did, and now we have to deal with it! Christ! Derek's down for the count, we have Alphas howling at our doors and your major concern is to play the affronted card?"

Scott just shook his head and laughed softly.

"You were that desperate to get attention that you just rolled over for Derek? And you seriously believe that bullshit? What, after he showed you the goods? Seriously Stiles?"

Stiles threw up his hands and pointed to the door.

"Get out Scott. Just...Get out."

Scott's face darkened at that.

"Stiles...come on-"

Stiles shook his head, his eyes going darker as he looked at Scott.

"I told you this because I trusted you. Even though you haven't done much to keep my trust lately. I'm not lying to you, Scott. I'm just trying to do my best here. Derek and my children are in danger. Erica and Boyd are dead and it's just a matter of time. For once...I thought you would be the better man in all of this."

He could feel the muscles in his cheek jump and his breathing start to speed up as he tried to find the right words he had to, yet didn't want to say.

"You have the choice to come on Tuesday. You can listen to what we all have to say and decide if you want to stay or walk out on us again. But after this...we can't be friends."

Scott's face went white at that.

"You're not..." He paused and swallowed hard. "You're picking Derek?"

Stiles saw Derek standing in the doorway of his room, looking completely stunned and swore to himself. Perfect timing as always, Scott.

"You picked Allison over me and over the Pack. No one has the high ground."

Scott swallowed hard and nodded.

"Fine."

He turned to leave and saw Derek in the doorway.

"You cannot believe how much I wish you'd never come back."

Scott hissed at Derek before exiting the house, leaving Stiles and Derek staring at each other.

"Why?"

Stiles walked up to him and looked straight in his eyes.

"Because somehow, somewhere along the way of you creeping into my room and smashing me into walls and saving each other's asses...You became someone that I care about and worry about. Also..."

He looked down and gingerly placed his hand on Derek's slightly rounded abdomen.

"I don't know exactly how you feel about me, but you're carrying part of me here. Part of my family and it's been too damned long since I really had that and I'm not that stupid to throw it away."

Derek's jaw worked and he made a soft noise of surprise that made Stiles look up at him.

"But Scott..."

Stiles shook his head and pulled Derek closer.

"Has walked away from me. From us and from this too often. I'm staying and I'd rather stay here with you. That's if...Oh shit...I never-"

Stiles started babbling, making Derek smile and shake his head.

"Stiles. Shut up. And yes. It's okay." Derek took a deep breath before he continued.

"I'm...glad it was you."

Stiles' eyes grew huge in his face and his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat as he tilted his face towards Derek, who moved closer and pressed their lips together in kiss. Sties deepened the kiss, licking at Derek's lips to part them before he slipped his tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss.

He hadn't been expecting a declaration of love. He wasn't in love yet and knowing that Derek really meant it when he was glad that it was Stiles went a long way to convince him that despite the pain, it had been the right decision.

It was sweeter than the last time they had kissed and Stiles could have stayed there forever...

"Stiles? What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?"

Stiles groaned and pulled away reluctantly from Derek.

Figures that would happen.


	5. Can This Savior Be For Real, Or Are You Just My Seventh Seal?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Alphas make their move, Scott gets a surprise, Allison muses and Stiles finally comes clean and comes up with an alliance that just might possibly work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to introduce the Alpha Pack and yes, the names are intentionally old fashioned. I just couldn't believe that they would have flashy names if they wanted to just blend. I was thisclose to giving Stiles a name, but maybe later. 
> 
> Also, having grown up with most of the Iron Curtain and having my first love be Polish, I'm just basing Papa Stilinski's experiences on how my friend was in regards to her heritage. 
> 
> And since most of the werewolf stories are usually traced back to France and Papa Stilinski would remember anything, no matter how trivial about his wife, he would recall something of that import. So she is Basque in my head cannon, which is also a hint for what Stiles' first name will be. If it ever gets mentioned. Heh.

"We should strike now! I'm tired of waiting! Besides, you know that they're not alone here!" Eloise hissed at her brother, Thomas, her hair swinging as she paced back and forth in the cheap motel room that they were holed up in.

That got his attention. "The Hales are nearly gone. Only Derek and that pack of children remain. We don't have to worry about anything. We already gave our warning. You know the protocol."

She shook her head and looked at Jesse, the one that made Thomas' hackles rise. He wanted to be Eloise's mate and was close to being that. Thomas didn't want that. It would ruin all of the balance that they had been so careful to maintain.

Shae shook her head and stepped forward to glare at Eloise.

"The Hales may be less in number, but there's more than them in this town. Hunters live here. Kate Argent couldn't resist and the Argents followed."

Shae explained, looking down at her booted feet, waiting for the news and their implications to hit all of them.

"They're still here, aren't they?"

Eion asked swearing softly under his breath. He had expected complications from their plan, but not Hunter-based complications`.

"How many are there?" Thomas asked, while Jesse frowned. He had his own issues with the Argents. Something in Louisiana that he never spoke about.

"Not many. Ever since they found out about what the woman and the old man did to the Hales, they have been reluctant to come to their beck and call. I've only seen a girl and the father."

Shae nodded. "She's not that well trained. Probably just started. Argent didn't want her to be part of all this. But-"

"Knowing that ruthless bitch of an aunt she had, it's not surprising that's what pushed her into it." Jesse muttered, making Eloise shoot a sharp look at him, one that Thomas made a mental note to file away for later. It never hurt to have leverage in any situation. Even in a pack like theirs.

"So they have the potentiality of more coming into town. But why would they even bother to fight?"

Shae shrugged and straddled a chair, pushing her short, messy dark hair out of her face as she did so.

"Payback. The Hales were killed against the code. They could also be defending the town and be working independently from the packs."

Eion pointed out.

"What do we do?"

Eloise looked at her brother, who nodded.

"Eloise and I will take care of that. The rest of you see if you can track Hale. It's taking longer than we planned to take over this territory. We have to move fast now."

Jesse nodded and Eion stood up.

"You have your orders, let's get going."

~*~*~*~*~

Scott walked home in a daze. He felt almost as bad as when Allison had told him that she was going to call him after they had been trapped in the school. He honestly didn't know how to deal with the feelings that were flooding through him.

Stiles has always been there. Ever since he could remember, Stiles had been right beside him. He had always counted on Stiles having his back. Never expected that Stiles would tell him their friendship was done.

He didn't think that it was the same as when his dad had gotten hurt. Stiles had been pretty mad then, but they had started to talk after he had cooled down. He wanted to hope that this was a similar situation, but he was sure that it wasn't going to happen.

Stiles looked completely serious when he was telling him they were done. He also looked like his father when he was laying down the law and for a moment, Scott felt like he had been irrevocably left behind. Stiles had moved on without him realizing it and had somehow ended up inextricably tied with Derek Hale on top of that.

The memory of Derek standing in the door way of Stiles' room made his anger rise. It just felt like no matter what was going on in his life, Derek was always hovering at the edges of it. And now with Stiles, he wasn't just hovering. He was right there, dead center, dangling the idea of a family and kids in front of Stiles.

He wasn't feeling sad now. He was angry that his best friend got taken away from him by Derek, who always took everything from him. Even his creepy uncle wanted to take his mom from him. Fuck that family.

That was his last thought before he was suddenly on the ground with a heavy weight on his back and hearing snarls right by his ears.

Relying on instinct and his wolf reflexes, he bucked them off and got to his feet in record time to come face to face with a slip of a girl with a fall of wheat blond hair and the tightest leather pants he had ever seen on a girl.

"Who are you?" He asked, noticing the claws and the red tinge of her eyes as they flashed on to him.

"Eloise, puppy. Your eventual Alpha."

Scott's hackles rose and his claws came out that that statement.

"You're not my alpha. No one is my alpha." Scott growled as he attacked.

Eloise may have been an alpha, but Scott was going on pure adrenalin and rage at losing his best friend and his life because of those fucking werewolves.

She didn't expect for him to knock her on her ass and stomp on her left hand, cracking all the bones in it. She howled in pain, but had enough presence of mind to lash out and sweep his legs out from under him. Scott landed painfully with a thud, allowing Eloise to get on top of him and slam his head hard into the sidewalk.

Scott groaned at the painful thunks and was disoriented only for a few moments before his senses got back online and he flailed his arms, connecting hard enough to get her off of him. Well, off of him long enough for him to scramble away backwards from her and finally get on his feet.

Her eye was swollen and her jaw was scraped and bloody. But she was smiling at him before her face contorted into a muzzle full of bloodied fangs as she rushed at him, faster than he had even seen Derek move. He yelped, he couldn't help it, but he didn't turn tail and run.

He did stoop to pick up a thick branch he had spotted earlier and swung it, hoping that lacrosse hadn't completely erased his little league training.

It hadn't.

The branch connected with a meaty thunk that sent her flying into the bushes and bought him time to get the hell over to Allison's house.

Tuesday was too damned far away, if he was getting attacked already. They needed to get together and fast.

~*~*~*~*~

Allison was absent-mindedly pushing the cart with groceries in it, checking everything off the list carefully. She hadn't really ever helped with groceries before. Or anything domestic before her mother died and the unpreparedness of it was something she was painfully aware of.

She had known how much her mother had been the backbone of the Argent family, but she hadn't realized how many ways her mother really had influenced their lives. It was true that they had their arguments and she hadn't allowed her to say goodbye, but Victoria Argent had been her mother.

She bit her lip and reached out to get the last item-milk. She wondered if that feeling would ever really go away. Or if it would stay until she had children of her own. She smiled ruefully and put the milk in the cart. There was no time to think about that now. Not when she was still trying to put the pieces of her life and of herself together.

And to understand her father and help him with his grief. She had lost her mother and he had lost his wife. Hunting was out of the question at the moment. It might even be out of the question permanently. Especially now that they both had lost so much.

Her father had been throwing the idea around of leaving Beacon Hills, but nothing concrete had come out of it. Allison herself was actually thinking that it would be a good idea. Only ashes were left for them in Beacon Hills. Scott was unattainable to her and her family lost whatever little standing they had after the connection to the Hale fire had been pieced together by Sheriff Stilinksi.

She was just mixed up and broken up and sad inside. She just was trying to do the best that she possibly could and help her father along. That was all that mattered to her at this point of time.

She shook her head and checked her list again. She had gotten everything that her father had asked for. It was time to go home and do some more learning. Like cooking, which her father was adamant that she learn now that she would be moving to University in a year or so.

She wheeled the cart to the check out and paid for everything and headed to the parking lot, checking her watch on the way there. She had made a decent time, even with putting the groceries away and was about to get into the car when she felt eyes on her.

She didn't react outwardly, despite her heart beating like a jackhammer in her chest and instead got into her car, put on her seatbelt and started the ignition. She looked into the rearview mirror and saw a young woman with short dark hair standing at the edge of the parking lot, her mouth quirked up when she noticed Allison looking at her before she was simply not there any longer.

She pulled out of the parking lot fast after that, her only thought being to get home and to call Scott. There was something brewing in Beacon Hills and they needed to put a stop to it fast.

~*~*~*~

Stiles looked at his father and at Derek as they sat around the small dining room table as he tried to gather his thoughts and to explain why he and Derek had been kissing in his father's bedroom.

There wasn't an easy way to actually explain, other than overstating the obvious. Which he could do and have the conversation just get out of hand completely. And if that happened, he wouldn't get to explain everything that had been going on.

"So how long have you and Derek been uh...seeing each other?" Stiles' mouth fell open and he worked his jaw as he tried to come up with an intelligent remark to that innocuous question that wouldn't make Derek sound like a creeping pervert.

"It's been a recent development." Derek replied smoothly, making the Sheriff raise an eyebrow.

"We sort of fell into it, so to speak." Stiles jumped in, desperate to get a handle on the conversation.

"When would that have been? After the murders?"

Stiles looked at Derek, who only widened his eyes to answer.

"Uh Yeah. Look, dad. Uhm...I didn't want to tell you this way, but yeah, there's been a hell of a lot of weird things happening in town and me and Derek sort of got together because our interests dovetailed in that direction, so to speak."

"Okay. Okay. Do all of these things have to do with the fact that you've been hiding stuff from me and lying and getting into more trouble than usual?"

Stiles swallowed hard and nodded. He flickered his eyes to Derek and Derek nodded. They needed everyone on board and having the Sheriff know would be more of an advantage to keeping him safe than ignorant and dead.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about that. But I...I honestly thought that I was keeping you safe. Especially since there are werewolves and other sort of weird...shi-things in town now."

The Sheriff blinked at that and sat back in his chair.

"Stiles...seriously? Is that the best that you can come up with? I thought that we were being honest here! Considering that you were almost humping a presumed murdered in my bedroom-"

"He's not lying, sir." Derek cut in softly, making the Sheriff look at him.

"He's been covering for Scott and for me. We're both werewolves. I was born one and Scott was bitten my uncle after he killed my sister and became alpha. I killed him after he killed all those people responsible for the fire that killed our family and became the Alpha."

"And you expect...oh Jesus Christ!"

"Dad! Breathe! Oh my God! Derek! Change back! Change back! He's going to have-"

"Stiles, for the love of God! Shut up! I'm just shocked! Get me a beer! No, get the damned bottle of Jack! Christ!"

"Here, dad."

"You want a shot, Hale?"

Derek shook his head and looked at Stiles, who moved closer and bit his lip before he turned to his father, who was just now pouring himself a shot.

"That's the rest of the story. I'm...I guess...you could call me...uhm...intersexed, so to speak. I can get pregnant and carry children to term and..." He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm pregnant with Stiles's children."

The Sheriff didn't say anything to that. He only knocked back the shot, grimaced and repeated the action before he spoke again.

"Okay. Okay. This wasn't exactly how I expected to become a grandfather..." He looked at Stiles, who was now holding onto Derek's hand and watching his father for signs that he was going to have to get Derek and beat a hasty retreat. Even though his father loved him and hadn't ever done anything to disprove that, he knew that the news they had dropped on him weren't exactly something that would just be smoothed over in a conversation and a matter of hours.

"So just to state the facts-Your uncle killed everyone responsible for the Hale fire. He also bit Scott and turned him into a werewolf. You are a werewolf and can have children. Anything else that I'm missing?"

Stiles let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding and squeezed Derek's hand.

"Jackson is also a werewolf and the Argents hunt werewolves. And there's an Alpha pack in town that are basically werewolves with the power cranked up to eleven."

The Sheriff nodded and started to tilt his glass back and forth as he digested the news.

"I believe you. As much as my training is telling me that this is too improbably and far fetched..." He shook his head and poured another shot.

"There are too many damned holes to rationally explain everything. Ever since Kate Argent was linked to the fire...everything made sense."

He looked at Stiles.

"I knew you had a reason for letting me drink that much. You had it figured it out and you led me to the answers because of that."

Stiles' felt his face burn and his mouth opened and closed before he finally gave up and just nodded miserably.

"Your grandfather used to tell him stories. Your mother's father used to talk about loups and other creatures that lived in the forests. I never really paid attention, thinking it was folklore. That living so close to the Carpathians and the Pyrenees always bred those kinds of stories. But yet...I never did forget them."

Derek and Stiles exchanged looks at those words, but remained quiet. They didn't want to say anything just in case they screwed it up and had the Sheriff suddenly disbelieving all that they had told him.

"So you believe me?" Derek asked, beating Stiles to the punch.

The Sheriff looked at him for a long moment, but finally nodded his head, pushing the shot away.

"God help me, but I do. I'd be an idiot to disprove all that has happened and try to make it fit into some kind of rational framework when it simply won't fit."

Stiles slumped back and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"So...outside of that club...you weren't really lying about being gay, were you?"

Derek choked on what sounded like muffled laughter and Stiles blinked at his father, all the while thinking that he finally understood where he got his horrible sense of humor and timing from.

"Dad, out of-"

"Stiles, I know you're pissed off and there's stuff we gotta sort out and you said Tuesday, but you need to call everyone here NOW. I just got attacked by an Alpha and Allison was being watched by one. We need to get into action and fast."

The Sheriff stood up and looked at the wheezing Scott and the pale faced Allison and grim looking Chris Argent and looked at Stiles and Derek, who had also stood up.

"I take it this is the Alpha pack you spoke of?"

Stiles and Derek nodded.

"What do they want?"

Scott asked.

"Territory, would be my guess. The Hale pack is almost gone."

Derek replied, his hand going up to his abdomen as he spoke, making Stiles wrap his arm around him and pull him close, the Argents and Scott be damned.

Allison made a soft noise and her father's mouth tightened. The Sheriff noticed and moved closer to his son and his putative son in law. He didn't think any violence was going to break out in his kitchen, but just to make sure, he would protect them.

"They want more than that, Derek. They can get territory through you. Once they force you to submit and kill anyone that gets in their way. They're determined to have Beacon Hills and they don't care how many they destroy to get it and you."

Peter spoke up, arriving right after with Jackson and Isaac in tow. All of them saw the division and quickly moved toward the nucleus of the pack, leaving the Argents and Scott on the outside.

Stiles felt his face heat up as he looked at Peter.

"Fuck that. It's not happening."

"So what do you want us to do?"

"Help out. They're going to destroy all of us, that is why we need to work together. The hunters, the pack, Scott, my dad...if we don't, we might as well just roll over for them."

Scott looked at the Argents, who nodded at Stiles' words, leaving Scott the lone holdout.

"Fine. So how do we start?"

Stiles' mouth curled up in a smile that made Scott groan inwardly.

"With lures and traps, of course."


	6. I Will Battle For The Sun And I Won't Stop Until I'm Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles plots and reveals another side of himself that was unexpected for everyone, right before all hell breaks loose and the battle begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fight has arrived and yes, I admit that I have written Stiles as more calculating and more vicious here. Basically for two reason-He knows that he needs to not have anyone challenge him if they are to survive and the other is that he's been pushed hard enough. 
> 
> I have a sneaking suspicion that if Stiles was provoked hard enough, he _would_ attack that nastily. Especially against someone that has hurt him and his family by extension. He knows this and his father knows this and it has been shown that he is capable of it, but keeps it under wraps. This is him finally being worn thin enough to show it.
> 
> Chapter title is from Placebo's "Battle for the Sun"

"Where should we put the traps down?" Jackson was the first to ask after Stiles had spoken. 

Stiles chewed his cheek before he looked at the Argents, who were watching him to take his measure. 

"They will come for you, if they have done their homework, so if I were you, I'd lockdown that damned house of yours and plant as many deterrents as they can handle."

Chris Argent nodded. "And Allison?"

Stiles looked at her sharply, his eyes darting back and forth as he made calculations before he spoke. 

"Allison should go with Scott. Both of you should load up on Wolfsbane. Whatever Scott doesn't handle with brute force, Allison can with arrows soaked in Wolfsbane." 

Allison and her father exchanged a glance and Scott perked up only just when he heard what Stiles had just asked of them.

"Start moving. I doubt that we have enough time to set up a base and whatnot. Scott, we need Mountain Ash and loads of wolfsbane, see if Deaton can spare some and bring it over here. I'm not letting anyone come into this place after we're done."

He scratched at his scalp as he thought about where else they needed fortification and weapons. 

He turned to look at the rest of the pack, who were twitching and waiting for the next step of the plan.

"Jackson, your house is probably the best place to get the rest of the pack and Danny. I wouldn't be surprised if they have already tracking him to hurt you." 

He swallowed hard at the next question. "Did they see you with Lydia?"

Jackson shook his head, making Stile nod and breathe out heavily. 

"Good. One less liability. Set up a safe house for Danny in your place and you and Isaac stay and guard them. I need Peter here with my father."

"And what will you do, Stiles?" Chris Argent asked him. 

Stiles' jaw twitched at the question and Derek only looked at him, waiting for the answer.

"What needs to be done. But right now, it means stockpiling weapons and collaborating with Danny to track any suspicious activity in motels and cellphone records from the past few weeks."

Chris Argent nodded before he moved forward.

"And how will you defend yourself? The Sheriff has to work. He can't be counted to be keeping an eye on you and Derek...or will Derek fight for you? Or will the task fall to Peter?" He took a step closer and Stiles swiftly moved to push a startled Derek behind him and his father moved to close the gap, keeping Chris Argent away from Derek.

Stiles didn't reply, but held up his hand to halt any progress that the other man may have thought to make. 

"Let me assure you that I can fight. You don't have to worry about me being a liability."

"He's right, Mr. Argent. And right now, we're wasting time. Stiles is right. We need to get going if we're going to defeat a full pack of Alphas."

Isaac spoke up, shrinking slightly at the combined weight of everyone's startled looks, but he kept his composure. 

Chris Argent looked like he wanted to push some more, but he let it go. 

"Fine. But again, let me ask this: Why should we follow you? Why should we have to make the effort to do all of this?"

Stiles' mouth curled up slightly and his eyes darkened, the pupils swallowing the iris until they looked black.

His father swore softly and stepped forward, Scott also. They hadn't seen that expression on Stiles' face in years and when it was present, it didn't bode well for anyone. And if Stiles latched onto a bad idea...they were dead in the water before anything began. Derek sensed their apprehension and blindly fumbled for Stiles' hand, knowing full well that he needed to keep Stiles grounded.

"Do you want me to begin chronologically or alphabetically? Your sister destroyed the Hales, leaving this territory open for claiming. Your father manipulated Allison and to an extent, yourself by twisting your code so tight it choked you. Yet you still followed it and nearly got everyone here killed."

Allison blanched and Scott looked away. He had really forgotten how sharp and cutting Stiles could be once he was backed into a corner. Chris's jaw twitched, but he remained stoic. The rest of the room was still as they watched Stiles tear Chris Argent apart.

"All I'm concerned about is keeping Beacon Hills safe and by extension, my family and the pack. You can understand wanting to keep your family safe?"

Chris' face was impassive, but his eyes were blazing with anger.

"Gaizka! That's enough,son." Sheriff Stilinski told his son, who was still staring at Chris Argent.

"Stiles..." Derek added his voice, hoping that he could snap Stiles out of the vicious mood that had befallen him. He appreciated that Stiles was willing to stand up to anyone that challenged him and the plans that he had wrought in order to keep his family _(me, the cubs and his father)_ safe. But the darkness of his words and the sharpness of them, especially when they were hitting such raw wounds were something that he had never thought possible of Stiles and it was unnerving to hear them coming from his usually sunny and even-tempered Alpha.

"What if I walk out of this room and take my daughter with me?"

Stiles shrugged. "You'll fill the family plot faster, which in the end won't be a concern of mine. It's not like your family has done me any favours. Especially Gerard. Tell me, is it a family trait to abuse teenagers in the basement, or did you bypass that charming Argent trait?"

Chris stepped forward at that and the Sheriff got in between them.

"Allright. Allright. That's enough. Derek, take Gaizka upstairs. Argent, get the hell out of my house. Do whatever the hell you want. We're done here. The rest of you, Stiles gave you the plans. Go."

Chris nodded and stalked away, cutting a swath through the stunned audience in the Stilinski kitchen, breaking the spell and getting everyone moving. 

"Come on." Derek murmured to Stiles, tugging his arm and directing him upstairs. 

The kitchen cleared out after that, leaving Peter and the Sheriff alone in the kitchen. 

"I see now...why he hides who he is." Peter commented mildly, as he leaned against the counter.

The Sheriff nodded and sighed heavily. 

"He was pushed farther than he has been in years. The last time he was like that was...after his mother died. He's been able to keep it under control since."

"But now with Derek and the children. No wonder why it was bound to come out." Peter noted quietly.

"If he ever decides to become one of us...He would make an excellent Alpha."

The Sheriff nodded. "Only if."

Peter nodded. "Of course."

~*~*~*~*~

"So you got your ass handed to you by a beta?" Thomas asked Eloise, who glowered, but nodded. Thomas swore softly under his breath. This was not a good sign. If his sister, an Alpha in her own right, was getting her ass handed to her by a Beta...it didn't bode well for the rest of their ambitions. 

"Do you have any excuse? Any reason? I'm dying to figure out how an Alpha got her ass kicked by a beta. A beta who, for all intents and purposes has only been one for several moons?" Thomas asked, saving Eion and Shae the trouble. Jesse only looked away. He didn't know what else to say and felt that if he did say something...it wouldn't go well. 

Eloise's face went red, but she didn't say anything. She couldn't.

"Or can we say that you're not as observant or as vicious as you once were?" Thomas asked, his voice going deathly soft as he walked up to his sister and slapped her across the face hard. 

She let out a soft whine when he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back painfully to face him.

"We need to keep our head in the game, Eloise! We cannot afford to have any weaknesses while we face them!" 

He shoved her and watched her crumple to the floor, giving him no fight. She knew that he would destroy her if he was inclined to. She also knew that she had messed up the warning that was supposed to be given to the Hales and their alliance. 

"So what do you propose we do now?"

Shae broke in. She didn't give a damn about the little rivalries that were going on between Eloise and Thomas. She had agreed to be in the pack only for land and for the promise of a litter. She didn't care for the drama behind the scenes. She only wanted to see action and continue her own line. The pack was a means to an ends. 

"We have to act now. Before we can give them the upper hand."

Shae smiled, her teeth gleaming white and her eyes red in the dim light of their shared motel room. 

"Together or do we split up?"

"We split up and hit them were they are the most vulnerable." Jesse spoke up. "I want the hunters."

Thomas nodded. "I'll take my useless sister and we shall take the pack." He inclined his head towards Eion, who was idly examining the ends of his dark braid. 

"I'll take Hale and the Sheriff. I scented them earlier."

Thomas nodded. 

"We know what to do. We end this. Now."

~*~*~*~*~

Chris slammed into his house, his fury still high. But he still did as the Stilinski kid suggested. He made sure that the house was secure and checked his weaponry, making packages to give to the others. 

The boy was right. Despite how much it stung, the Stilinski boy had it right. They wouldn't survive by themselves. He had seen too much death and had forced his daughter into a position that she shouldn't have had to face. Ever since Kate and his father had perverted their code...he had been forced to admit that he had erred and erred badly. 

He shook his head and pushed the regrets and grief away. He had work to do. 

A crash of windows caught his attention and he didn't hesitate to grab the shotgun loaded with wolfsbane and went to investigate. He made sure to keep in the cover as he looked around, cursing the fact that Victoria wanted the house with the windows. 

Moving quickly from the garage, past the kitchen area, he stopped by the dish cabinet and waited. 

There was another crash and this time, the splintering of wood followed it. He didn't let the nerves get to him and he figured that if he could make it to the panic room in the master bedroom, he could wait them out. He could do it, since he wasn't that far off from the staircase and the room itself. 

Chris waited two heartbeats before he moved.

And was slammed into from behind, the shotgun still in his grip.

He recovered from the surprise fast and got on his back to shoot. He fired off two shots, but only hit the frames on the wall. No flesh. Grunting, he got to his feet and was about to make a dash to the door, deciding it was better to take his chances outside when he was slammed into again. 

This time, he lost the shotgun. 

The Alpha kicked him as he looked down at him. Chris noted he was young, but had the red eyes and claws of an Alpha. He looked like a classic All American boy. One that he would have considered letting Allison date if he wasn't any wiser. But this was a murderous beast and he was doubting the odds of him coming out of this one alive. He had faced betas before, but not Alphas. 

And especially not Alphas whose families he had massacred.

At the recognition dawning on his face, the Alpha grinned, his face turning into a distorted parody of a winning smile. 

"So good of you to remember me. And mine. I will endeavour to do the same to you."

Was all he said before he struck. 

And missed. 

Chris had taken the opportunity to roll away and grab at his shotgun, pumping it and firing a round into the Alpha's arm. 

The Alpha howled and struck Chris, sending him skidding across the floor. 

"You will regret that!"

Chris laughed, despite tasting blood. 

"We'll see."

~*~*~*~

When they went to Stiles' room, Derek closed the door and let go of Stiles. Stiles walked over to his desk chair and sank down on it, letting his head fall back as he focused on bringing himself under control. He took a few deep breaths before he turned to look at Derek, whose expression was of confusion and bewilderment. 

Stiles swore softly to himself before he stood up and walked over to his mate and clasped his face in his hands. 

"I wish you hadn't seen that. Or heard that." Stiles whispered as he looked up at Derek through his lashes. 

"I didn't mean to lose control like that. I thought I had it-"

"It doesn't matter, Stiles. What matters is what did Gerard do to you?"

Stiles blinked at that and looked away before he spoke. 

"He grabbed me, after the game. Took me to their basement where he was torturing Erica and Boyd. I mouthed off and he kicked my ass. Nothing else."

Derek's eyes glowed red at that. "Why didn't you say anything, Stiles? Why did you keep quiet?"

Stiles' mouth fell open and he ducked his head. Derek put his hands over Stiles own and looked at his mate. He had no words for how much it hurt to know that he had suffered at Gerard's hands. That he had just smiled and carried on and said nothing. And he had accepted it at face value...

"Don't ever do it again. Not to me. Not to your father. Not from the pack. You have to remember that you are important. You are..." His mouth worked and although he wanted to say the words...they stayed stuck in his throat. 

Stiles nodded, his pupils pinpoints in the sherry of his irises. He was about to speak when instead, the deafening sound wood and glass breaking, along with Peter's howls and his father's shouts filled the air. 

"Fucking Scott!" Stiles shouted as he pulled away from Derek and went to his closet and dug inside, coming up with a double-barreled shotgun and a box of wolfsbane amunition, the kind that Kate Argent used. He loaded up the gun and pumped it, setting it carefully onto the bed before he went into the closet and pulled out a hoodie with a pouch in the front that he filled with small capsules and several knives, the entire arsenal smelling strongly of the same wolfsbane in the bullets. 

He looked at Derek and clasped his hand one more time, bringing it to his lips and kissing it. 

"Get to my father's room. Hide in the closet. I'll hold them off for as long as I can."

Derek only stared at him, unable to comprehend the situation, despite there not being time to waste. 

"Derek! Go! I can't keep you safe if you stay here! Now go!" 

Derek snapped out of it and nodded, finally moving towards the Sheriff's room as he was told. He paused at the door and looked at Stiles. 

"Don't die."

Stiles laughed quietly.

"I won't. Trust me. I won't"

"I will, Gaizka."

"Dammit!"

~*~*~*~*~

"Allison! Allison! Shoot!"

Allison tried to steady her crossbow, but she couldn't see clearly through the veil of her tears. 

The dark haired Alpha held Scott as a shield in front of her, waiting for her to shoot. She was counting on it and knew that she would do anything to not shoot the love of her life. Even though he was trying to be the hero and sacrifice himself for the greater good. 

"You're in the way! I can't!"

Allison shouted, forgetting all of her training and the mandates of her family. This was Scott! She couldn't kill Scott! Even if it meant breaking her word. She couldn't do it. 

"Just do it! It's not going to kill me! We need to get the Mountain Ash to Stiles! Allison! Please!"

Scott begged her. He knew how much it cost, but he also was counting on being able to heal it after they killed the Alpha. But they couldn't do that if she refused to shoot.

"Yes Allison! Shoot your little Beta! Shoot the Beta and help get us the Hale Breeder!"

Shae, the Alpha taunted, her claws digging into the soft part of Scott's chin and drawing blood, making Scott groan as he struggled in her iron grasp.

"Shut up you bitch! Shut up!"

Allison screamed, wiping her face as she steeled herself to finally obey Scott's entreaties.

"Shoot! Shoot!"

Scott yelled, his voice going high as Shae tightened her grip on Scott's neck.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"

She squeezed the trigger and let the bolt fly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And sorry again for the cliffhanger. I honestly have no idea what will come, only that when I start writing, it starts taking shape. 
> 
> Stiles, in my head cannon is Polish through his father's side and Basque through his mother's side. His name here is "Gaizka" which fits the requirements of being odd enough and unpronounceable enough for Americans. It is Basque and means "Savior".


	7. I Will Brush Off All The Dirt and Pretend It Didn't Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite gaining more than they had expected, the Hale pack still has to contend with serious losses to the Alphas and Stiles is pushed to the brink he never thought he'd reach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame the action sequences on watching Sherlock Holmes and Merlin and I hope that I did them justice and that everyone got a chance to either screw up or shine accordingly. Yeah, There is some Danny here. I like Danny and figured that if he knew, he'd totally do something badass also. 
> 
> So yeah...onwards. 
> 
> Again, lyrics are from the same Placebo song "Battle for the sun"

Jackson was sure that he broke all the speed limits in town driving to Danny's house. He couldn't forget how serious Stiles was about the entire situation. It didn't once occur to him to just get home and text a warning to Danny. Not when he remembered Stiles's eyes and hos stark he had looked when he was verbally handing Allison's dad his ass.

He also had to admit that he made a mental note to never push Stiles to that brink. No matter how tempting it was to needle him until he got a reaction. They were right. It was always the ones you least expected that had the biggest secrets.

Shaking his head, he drove into Danny's driveway and nearly had a heart attack when he saw his friend already outside and putting his phone away in his pocket. Jackson could only stare as Danny got in the car and buckled himself in. He put the backpack that Jackson just now noticed on the floor in careful movements before looking at his friend.

"Stiles texted me to be ready five minutes ago." Danny explained. "So just get to your house and we'll figure it out from there."

Jackson nodded and started driving towards his house.

"What's in the backpack?"

"Supplies. Stiles had me make up something a month back after he told me everything going on in the town." Danny explained as he unzipped the backpack, letting out a faint whiff of wolfsbane that made Jackson gag.

"Sorry. I just put in what Stiles thought would be good to have as an arsenal." Danny apologized as he quickly zipped up the backpack and opened the window to let the last whiff of the wolfsbane out of the car.

"Stiles Stilinski? Told you to pack an arsenal?" Jackson wheezed out, his eyes watering a bit as he focused on the road in front of him.

"Yeah. He did."

"And you just listened to him?"

"Jackson, Stiles may be annoying. He may be hyperactive, but one thing that he isn't is stupid. Or weak. When are you and the rest of them going to finally open your eyes and see that?"

"When did you see it?"

Danny shook his head and snickered softly.

"Let's just say that I saw it before, but didn't get proof till recently."

Jackson smiled and kept on driving.

"I'll take your word for it."

"You should, since it might keep your pretty ass alive."

Jackson laughed quietly as he pulled into his garage.

"Danny, only I'm-"

The retort was stopped cold by awful sound of metal being dented and scratched by what could only very well be claws.

"Holy shit!"

Danny exclaimed as more of the metal crumpled and holes starting appearing through it. Jackson growled in response, opened the garage door and burned rubber driving them out of the garage backward. Whoever was on the roof of the car howled in rage and punched through the metal. A clawed hand scrabbled through the hole and tried to grab at either Danny or Jackson, who were both fast enough to get their heads out of the way.

"Jackson! Start swerving!" Danny ordered him, an order he followed despite his wolf nature trying to get the better of him. The clawed hand disappeared as Jackson drove carelessly through the town, all the while hoping and praying that either the streets were empty or that there were no cops around to bust him. No one would believe that he was driving that way to dislodge the Alpha on his car. Nor did he expect them to. So he really hoped that no one was around.

"Keep going. I have an idea!" Danny shouted at him. The sound of Danny moving around in the car followed the order and Jackson swore that he could hear Danny's heart hammering away as he scrambled around to get at whatever it was that Stiles told him to put in his backpack. He was sure that he heard the distinct snaps and clicks of bullets being slid into the chamber of a gun. He wanted to look over to confirm it, but he didn't dare take his eyes off the road. Not when the Alpha's hand had poked in again and had actually scratched Danny.

Danny cried out in pain and Jackson was about to say screw it and look when two things happened simultaneously:

The first was that his car hit what felt like a big animal and swerved off the road. The second was that Danny managed to get a shot off that deafened and blinded Jackson, making him lose control of the car.

"Well, fuck." was all he could think of before the car flipped once, twice and his head smashed against the steering wheel, knocking him out.

~*~*~*~*~

Isaac was driving Peter's car towards Jackson's house, Stiles' directions still ringing in his ears when he saw Jackson's car come out of nowhere and start swerving erratically.

"What the-" He didn't have time continue the sentence, since he saw why Jackson was driving like that.

An Alpha was on the roof and he was doing his best to punch through the roof of the car and grab Jackson and his passenger, who Isaac assumed was Danny.

He swore softly as he sped up, not sure what he was planning on doing, since he was too far away and in a car to actually be of much use to them. He chewed his lip hard, worrying the skin off as he got closer to the car. The Alpha was doing a hell of a lot of damage to the car and his hand was inside the car and Isaac swore whole-heartedly when he saw that.

Even if he did manage to get out of the car and attack, he knew that Jackson and he were no match for the Alpha.

"Fucking shit!" He exclaimed, punching the steering wheel hard in frustration. He was going to watch Jackson and Danny die and get torn apart himself and there was nothing that he could do to stop it.

He took his phone out of his pocket to text Stiles to get more directions when the roar of a shotgun going off made him look up in time to see the Alpha's head jerk back once, then again before the body tumbled off of the car.

"Holy shit!" Isaac was all he could think to say as he saw the body fall like a broken doll. He didn't have time to take the sight in because right after, Jackson's car crumpled, then flipped over and over before landing in the ditch.

Slamming the brakes on the car, Isaac got out even before it was completely still and rushed over to the still form in the road.

He winced at the crumpled form when he saw the long fall of hair framing the head and the raw flesh where the clothing had been shredded from her skidding across the tarmac. It wasn't a man, like he had first thought. But a girl. Maybe his age or a little bit older.

Maybe, he would have left her alone and gone to pull Jackson and Isaac out of the car. But when she started to stir, he knew he couldn't just leave her as such.

She was an Alpha and she was probably going to finish the job that the other one had started. She wouldn't have any compunctions in killing him or the others or forcing his Alpha. No.

He knew what he had to do.

Taking a deep breath and mouthing an apology, he moved quickly towards her, not giving her a chance to do anything but raise her ruined head.

"I'm sorry. But they are my family."

He whispered before he extended his claws and struck.

~*~*~*~*~*

"-son! Come on! Jackson! Wake the hell up! We gotta get back to Stiles' house! Come on!"

Jackson snapped awake at Isaac's words. One minute he was gone, the next he was wide awake and getting to his feet from where he had been thrown clear off the car.

Although he loved his car, he was more concerned that Danny was still trapped in the mess of metal that it had become. He moved towards it with unsteady legs, but was stopped by Isaac.

"He's fine. Just nerves. He needs to get rid of them."

Isaac told him, but it didn't sink in and Jackson pulled away from him, looking for his friend.

"Danny?"

The minute that he asked that, the unmistakable sounds of someone retching caught up with him. Along the with the stench of vomit, which made him gag. He got himself under control in a couple of minutes, leaning over and taking a few deep breaths before standing up in time to see a white-faced Danny walking towards him.

The starkness of his skin was contrasted by the blood dripping from a cut on his forehead and his t-shirt was singed. The backpack was blackened, but otherwise looked intact.

Jackson swallowed and hurried to his friend while Isaac fell back, scouting to make sure that the coast was clear.

"You okay?"

Danny nodded, wincing as Jackson grabbed his head and examined the wound.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Even better if you let go of me and we get moving. Isaac's filled me in. Come on, Jackson."

"But...but...the Alpha..."

Danny grinned and lifted the backpack.

"Stilinski's little goody bag took care of the one on the roof. Isaac finished off the one you turned into roadkill."

Jackson blinked at those news and looked at Isaac, who was shuffling his feet nervously under his gaze.

"Seriously?"

Isaac nodded and let his eyes flash red for further confirmation.

"Proof enough for you? We don't have time to waste. We need to get back to Stiles' house!"

Jackson nodded tightly and grabbed Danny, tugging him towards Isaac's car and nearly throwing him inside.

"Text him and tell him we're on our way."

Isaac barked out, tossing him the phone and driving as if the demons of hell were right behind them.

~*~*~*~*

Chris got on his feet and rushed to the stairs, the shot and something else having distracted the Alpha enough to let him go.

But not enough to let him get into the panic room. The door was kicked in and Chris faced a furious half-turned Alpha who leapt at him without preamble.

Chris lashed out, screaming out in pain when the Alpha's claws raked through his forearm, splattering the wall with a spray of blood. Chris didn't wait and shot him again, the force of the blast throwing the Alpha into the hallway and giving him time to pump the gun to fire again.

He fired, but the Alpha came anyways, the wounds bleeding and smoking from the Wolfsbane.

He had wolfed out and was snarling as he lurched forward, his only goal being the destruction of the hunter that had destroyed his entire family. He didn't care that he was dying, he only wanted to revenge his family and destroy the head of the Argents.

For Chris, it was all too familiar and it reminded him all too closely of having to kill his friend.

"Why did you do it?" The Alpha asked through distorted jaws.

"I had no choice. Your family spilled innocent blood. Killing children and raping women...they had to be stopped."

"Just like I have to stop you."

Chris shook his head and raised his gun.

"No. You won't"

His last words were lost in the roar of the shotgun as it fired out the last bullet of wolfsbane, hitting the Alpha right between the eyes and dropping him dead.

Chris watched him fall on the ground before he too, fell on his knees.

~*~*~*~*

Stiles took a deep breath and hefted the shotgun, preparing himself to go downstairs and expect the worst. He carefully went down the stairs slowly, hoping that he wouldn't smell fresh blood.

He had heard Peter's roars and his father's shouts and he was expecting the worst. To his surprise, only the furniture had been completely wrecked and even though it would put a dent on their household budget...it was better than having to bury his father.

"Give him to me."

Stiles, to his credit, had been expecting that. He hadn't been around Derek long enough to not recognize the signs of a werewolf lurking in the corner. He turned and looked at the Alpha, who looked harmless. If it hadn't been for the long braid of hair and the murderous red gleam, he would have passed for any of his classmates in Beacon Hills High.

"No." Stiles replied, making the Apha's eyes glow a red so dark that it looked like his irises were bleeding.

"He doesn't belong to you, human."

Stiles smiled at that, the gun held still in his hands as he spoke.

"Derek is not property. Neither mine nor yours and I'll be fucking damned if I let you take him."

The Alpha growled.

"And you think you can stop me?"

Stiles was given no time to reply as the Alpha swarmed him. Stiles yelped and moved to the left, the Alpha's claws and teeth catching him painfully on the side as he did so. The pain was blinding and his arm was useless, the gun dropping from his nerveless fingers as it happened.

"Really? You're on your way out. Couldn't even take a scratch?"

The Alpha taunted him.

"He may not have been able to, but I can."

Peter replied as he leapt onto the Alpha and sent both of them crashing out into the yard.

"Fucking hell." Stiles grunted out, getting to his feet painfully. He didn't need Mrs. McCall to tell him he was going to be out of commission. He could feel the flesh and the muscle separate as he moved, the pain almost blinding as he did so. It hurt, but he had to check on his dad and get him and Derek out of the house and into somewhere safer. He had been expecting to have the Mountain Ash already, but since Scott hadn't come through, he needed a backup plan and fast.

He made his way deeper into the dining room area and let out a sigh of relief at seeing his dad beginning to stir, pain written on his face. The pain quickly turned to concern when he saw Stiles' bloody side and his face contorted with pain as he moved haltingly.

"Stiles! Don't move! God! What happened?"

"Dad, I'm fine. Never mind me, Please, just go make sure that Derek's safe."

"Stiles-"

"Dad! Please! Keep him safe!"

The Sheriff was about to say something else, but he just followed his son's urgent pleading and went upstairs.

Stiles took a deep breath and forced the pain to the back of his mind when he heard Peter's howls of pain. Despite their earlier animosity, he wasn't going to throw him under the bus.

He looked out the ruined window and saw that Peter, despite putting up a good fight, was on the ground and bleeding from numerous slashes. He wasn't getting enough time to heal them and Stiles saw that the Alpha was just gathering up enough strength to go for the kill.

Stiles couldn't let that happen. Even if he did creep the hell out of him and he had killed Laura...he couldn't let him die. That wasn't what a good Alpha would do.

Steeling himself against the pain, he reached into his hoodie and pulled out one of the vials he had made after the winter formal. He weighed it in his hand and took a deep breath. It was all or nothing.

"Peter!"

Peter's head jerked up and he didn't waste time scrambling out of the way.

Stiles lobbed the vial and let out a soft sound of relief when it struck the Alpha and exploded, engulfing him in flames.

The triumph was soured when he heard his father's shout, the splintering of wood and Derek's roar of denial cut short.

"DEREK!"

Stiles shouted, rushing to the stairs.

And collapsing right before he even reached the first step, his injuries finally catching up to him.


	8. You Are Getting In The Way, And I have Nothing Left To Say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott seeks redemption for his past mistakes. Derek, meanwhile,has finally been told why he had been targeted and what his fate will be if he can't get away.
> 
> And Stiles makes his play for Derek's rescue before anything that the Alpha's intend to do comes to pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some hurt/comfort and a bit of off-screen violence, but not that much. Also, I have noticed that despite Derek being impulsive and emotional...he can bide his time and then act. He also knows when it is futile to fight and in this time, he knows he's got way more to lose if he acts up. 
> 
> So...yeah, on with the show.
> 
> And I will double-check so that we don't get anymore "Christ" like typos.

Scott woke up gasping for air, groaning at the fresh hellish agony that came with being conscious again. It hurt, but it was welcome. Showed that he was alive after all. When he had seen the bolt coming, he had thought he was done for.

"Scott? Oh! Scott!" Allison exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, the warmth of her skin easing the lingering pain of the bolt she had shot him with. He didn't even think of holding a grudge, since it had been to kill the Alpha girl that had been holding him.

At the thought of the alpha, Scott pulled away and looked at Allison.

"The Alpha? Is she dead?"

Allison bit her lip and her eyebrows drew together in a way that Scott knew all too well.

"She got away, didn't she?"

Allison nodded. "I'm sorry. Even though I shot her three times...she still got away."

Scott wanted to assure her and tell her that it was okay, that she had tried, but the words stuck in his throat. They had tried and had failed in the task that they had set out to do and even though it had been hard odds, it still stung. Stiles had been right and it hurt him again to admit that he had just rolled over and screwed his friend over.

Scott only nodded and ran his hand through his hair, the motion being made easier now that he was conscious and his healing had completed.

"Was she injured at least?"

"She's got one eye and wolfsbane poisoning."

Scott nodded. "It's something and that's something we can work with."

Allison nodded and opened her mouth to speak when Scott's phone beeped with an incoming text from Isaac

"Three Alphas are dead. Come to Stiles' house when you can. We need to regroup."

The text was perfunctory and to the point and totally unlike Isaac that it made Scott get moving.

"Isaac wants us to get over to Stiles' house. Three of the Alphas have bit it, so that's good news at least."

Allison's face cleared up just slightly at those news, yet her expression was still troubled when she moved to get Scott a shirt and her bag. Scott watched her bustle into action and only stopped her when she came close to give him his shirt again.

"Hey. It's going to be okay. I'm sure that Stiles will come up with something. There's only two more left, right? No unexpected attacks after the last one?"

Allison shook her head and Scott pulled on his shirt, getting on his feet with alacrity. Once he was on his feet, he pulled her close and kissed her.

"Everything will be okay. I don't know how, but I promise that it will be."

~*~*~*~

Derek's throat was raw from all the screaming that he had done earlier. His mouth was dry and the rag that they had gagged him with didn't help matters any. The sound wasn't muffled any and he knew that even if he did scream, there was no one coming to help him.

He had smelt the stench of death when they had shoved him into the room before they had started to abuse him.

"He's already breeding! I can smell the human's spunk on him...can smell it in his litter."

The girl missing her left eye hissed as she had raised her leg to kick him. Derek curled up around his vulnerable belly and prepared to endure the broken ribs that such a kick would surely cause, but the kick never came.

"Don't!" The other one, the man that was still healing the burns he had suffered snarled the order.

"Why? It's not like we can't make more with him once we get rid of the other ones."

The female Alpha protested. The make Alpha snarled.

"Think, Shae! You want a pack? This is the best way to do it! He's carrying at least six cubs! We need those cubs! Besides, what is sweeter than raising them against their own Alpha?"

Derek made a noise of protest at that, which promptly earned him a kick against his tailbone. He cried out, the pain blinding him for several moments and making him miss the rest of whatever the conversation was.

The worst beating he had ever experienced was what happened next and he was sure that somewhere along the line, he had lost consciousness. When he came to again, he found himself tied to the bed face up. He snarled and yanked at his bond, only to hiss in pain when he realized they had coated the ropes with wolfsbane.

"Guess he found our treat, Eion!" The woman, Shae gloated to the male Alpha, whose body was still burnt and not healing as fast as Derek knew it should have. He took note that the girl's eye was still oozing ichor and blood and the faint overlay of wolfsbane over the stench of injury and pain that overlaid them.

"Leave him to it." The male, Eion replied dismissively.

"He knows he's trapped and done for. Once we kill his mate..." Eion smiled and Derek knew that the sight would haunt his dreams for years to come.

"He'll whelp the cubs and we can breed him. I'm sure we can get at least two litters each from him."

Eion leaned down and stroked Derek's rounded abdomen, making him snarl at the touch and try to get away from it. He hated having his belly touched on most days, but to be defenseless and have his litter exposed...it was torture. Even though Eion had said he wanted to keep his cubs, he was well aware that Eion could just be saying that to keep him docile and then destroy him.

The idea of losing his children turned Derek's blood cold and he stopped struggling and lay there, his body going suddenly cold as the thought struck him. He couldn't lose their cubs. His family.

And even though it rankled, he forced himself to be passive and lay still and endure it. He had done the same when Kate had grabbed him. He could do the same now, when the stakes were that high.

"See? He understands. So let him be, Shae. Do not touch him."

Shae snarled, but Eion was impassive, his hand still on Derek's belly as she flounced out of the room.

Eion smiled again and Derek forced himself to endure it, all the while making plans as to how he was going to get loose and rip the son of a bitch to shreds.

~*~*~*~*~

Stiles bit his lip as he drove, his hand going to the pocket of his ruined hoody to make sure that some of his stash had remained. Luckily, it had and he made mental calculations as to how he was going to take out the last two.

He knew that he was going to destroy them for abducting Derek. That was all he was focusing on as he drove to the Motel 8. He had the weapons and he had the will, injury be damned. It wasn't even registering on his radar, if he was honest.

All he needed was for those Alphas to be dead and Derek safe at home with him and his father.

He parked the jeep far enough in case there was collateral damage and ran to the motel. He didn't bother with the first few rooms and went to the ones near the back, where the revolting stench of decomposing flesh overwhelmed his senses.

His eyes watered and he nearly gagged at the smell, but he knew that he had reached his destination.

He knew that there were only two alphas, but couldn't explain why he was so certain of it. Just like he was sure that Derek was there, forcing himself to be patient until he could either escape or the cavalry came.

He had to smile at that. It was just like old times. The Calvary was on its way.

Keeping that thought in mind, he took out his gun and stuck a couple of vials in the wristband that he had snapped on as he had left the house. It wasn't his style, but he had noticed it would come in handy to stuff the vials into for easier access.

Satisfied, he made his way to the motel room, taking care to move in short bursts and in a zig-zagging pattern like his dad had taught him. He had started out at the far end from the parking lot and the stench and feelings were getting worse as he got closer.

He expected to be ambushed and expected to be jumped the closer he got to the end goal.

What he didn't expect was to be met by a girl dressed in black, with her hands in her pockets who looked to be casually waiting for him to show up. She was looking down at the ground and when he got closer, she looked up at him and he grimaced at the sight of her ruined face and missing eye.

"Admiring the little Argent's bitch handiwork?"

Stiles's blinked and shrugged, his jaw working as he tried to come up with a clever retort to such a pointed question.

"It doesn't matter. You'll be dead and I'll get breeding rights with your little Hale bitch over Eion."

Stiles's eyes narrowed at that, but he didn't rise up to the horribly obvious bait.

"Well, I will get the rights once he whelps our litter. We'll make sure to keep him big and breeding until he's given us a pack. Your cubs will be-"

"You going to fight or are you going to talk me to death?" Stiles interrupted, his voice flat despite the disgust and rage that were welling up in him at her words.

She didn't reply and lunged for him, expecting to knock him down and win the fight easily. After all, he was just a slip of a boy. And human.

What she hadn't expected was for him to be aiming a gun at her face and shooting it.

~*~*~*~*~

"I guess we got too late to this party." Jackson noted when they entered Stiles' house and saw the mess that the earlier fights had left behind. Danny snorted and Isaac simply glared at him before they turned to look at Peter, who was actually being useful and clearing out the mess and mopping up the blood.

"Your help would have been appreciated, no word of a lie. Now if you're done stating the obvious, tell me you have good news."

Peter replied as he finished tossing the last bit of rubbish into the bin and tied up the plastic bin liner before hauling it outside. When he came in, he picked up the mop bucket and emptied it in the sink, his nostrils flaring at the smell of the bloody and soapy water.

"We got two of the psychos. Well, Danny and Isaac did." Jackson amended as he got the twin glares of his friend and fellow pack member.

"Good. We needed to hear that. Chris Argent took the other one down in his house. He's wounded badly, so we're down two and we need numbers to get Derek back."

As he had expected, his words didn't go over so well. Isaac's eyes bled red and Jackson looked away, his hand covering his mouth as the news took their time sinking in. Danny swallowed hard at that moved closer to both Jackson and Isaac, who seemed as if they were crumpling in on themselves at the news that Peter had given to him.

"They...they took him?" Isaac's voice got high at the end, almost like a whine and Danny winced at the sound. He raised his hand and put it on Isaac's shoulder to offer some kind of comfort. He didn't know Derek very well, but he was aware of the graveness of the situation. Jackson and Isaac had filled him in on the way to Stiles' house.

Peter didn't reply as he finished sluicing out the bucket and the mop and put them away in the closet before he faced them.

"Not without a price. But they took him. They also got Stiles. They got him pretty badly."

Isaac made that same noise and moved to go upstairs, only to be stopped by Peter.

"Give him time with his father. He's going to go after Derek, no matter what we say."

"Wait, what?"

Scott blurted out, stumbling in at that exact moment with a pale Allison in tow.

"An Alpha got him when the house was attacked. One distracted us, one grabbed Derek. We don't know where they are. Or they could be holing up."

Peter explained tightly.

"Well, it's not going to be in the woods. Too obvious." Danny pointed out, while Isaac shook his head head.

"No. It's too exposed to have a base and to hold an angry Alpha. They would surely be smarter than that." Isaac pointed out.

Danny nodded. "Motels would be the best bet. Anything that wouldn't have that much traffic..."

"The Motel 8!" Allison spoke up, snapping her fingers as it finally hit her.

"We drove by it on the way here. It would make sense that they would use it as their base. Not that much business, highly isolated."

"So we have a place...now what's the plan?"

Scott asked, the feeling of unease lessening now that they had some kind of trail to follow.

"The motel-"

"Stiles is already there."

Everyone's eyes turned to the Sheriff, who had just come downstairs, his eyes red-rimmed and haunted as he stepped into the kitchen.

Peter didn't say anything and only crossed his arms while everyone else started speaking up at once.

"What? How is that possible? Peter, you told us he had been injured!"

"He was. But they took his mate. A mate that is carrying his cubs. Do you actually think that anything was going to stop him?" Peter snapped back, moving towards the Sheriff, who was standing in complete shock at the knowledge that his son had gone on what was clearly a suicide run...all for the sake of love.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Isaac asked the Sheriff, his voice desperate as he sought to understand why the Sheriff had let Stiles do such a stupidly heroic act.

"How could I? He was determined to go! He didn't care about what price he paid and he said as much. He loves Derek. I know what that is like, to love someone that you'd die for them in reality, rather than just saying the words. So no, I couldn't stop him."

"Even if it means him going to his death?" Isaac asked, his voice broken as he tried to conceive of the loss of Derek and Stiles at the same time. He had lost his brother. His mother. His father. He couldn't lose anymore people that mattered to him.

"He's not going to his death, Isaac. I won't let him."

Scott spoke up, his expression determined as he spoke. He had fucked up before, he could admit that. But he was damned if he was going to let Stiles down again when it counted. He was going to save his friend and his disgruntled mate's ass whether Stiles wanted them to be saved or not.

"How long has it been since he left?"

"About ten minutes." The Sheriff replied.

Scott nodded. "Okay. We still have time. Come on."

~*~*~*~

"Wolfsbane's a bitch, huh?" Stiles asked as he punched Shae, snapping her head with the force of his blow.

"You little shit!" Shae groaned, charging toward him once she had recovered from his punch. "Do you think that will stop me? I'm an Alpha!"

Stiles didn't step aside and instead, grabbed her and pulled her close so that they were facing each other directly.

"Funny, so am I"

Stiles replied, his eyes flashing red right before he struck.


	9. I will Battle For The Sun, Because I have Stared Down The Barrel of a Gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott's bid for redemption takes him and the pack to rescue Stiles...who will stop at nothing to get his mate back. No matter what it takes and what methods he has to employ to do so. While Derek comes to a stark realization about Stiles, who can finally admit the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penultimate Chapter. I know that originally I plotted 11 chapters, but it has come to this. It's basically the denouement of the fic and hey, no more cliffhangers. Stiles and Papa Stilinski interactions are some of my favourite to write and there are more feelings here than usual, coming from all corners. After all, they have basically fought a war and survived...so they're allowed.

"Oh God! What the hell is that stench?" Scott gagged the minute that they stepped out of the car they parked right by Stiles' badly parked jeep. Isaac choked and gagged before he finally stumbled off into the bushes and emptied his stomach like Danny had done earlier.

Jackson himself was retching, but he held it together better than his pack members, while Danny and Allison simply stared at them in disbelief.

"What does it smell like?" Danny asked as he handed a returning Isaac a serviette to wipe off his mouth. Isaac mumbled a thanks and took it, careful to get all of the sick off his face.

"Charred meat. Decay. Death." Jackson replied tersely.

Scott's eyes flashed yellow and he tilted his head to pinpoint the actual location of where the scents where coming from.

"That way."

Jackson added, pointing to one of the sections closer to the end area before setting off without waiting for the rest of them to follow him.

They got there faster than he had expected, even though he knew that Allison and Danny were in great shape. But they were still human. That needed to be protected. He was glad then, that Isaac was an Alpha now. It was true that they were only facing two more. Maybe one, but they had all seen how things could go horribly wrong from one second to the next.

And although he had a grudgingly acquired respect for Stiles, he wasn't going to count on Stiles being alive and or even victorious before they got there. He was still human and had been badly injured, according to the Sheriff and Peter.

It would have taken a big miracle for Stiles to have been a hundred percent. Never mind taking out the last Alpha and getting Derek safely out of whatever trap that they could have sprung on them.

"Wait...is that Stiles?"

Scott asked, making Jackson flinch slightly as they watched Stiles punch and then slam a female Alpha into the ground without seemingly to break out a sweat. She managed to get her breath back and come at him again, but Stiles barely seemed to flinch as she did that. In fact, he looked like he was enjoying himself.

Despite his expression being blank as he focused on the fight, the way that he moved, with careless grace made Jackson think that he was simply toying with the female alpha, taking his time to finish her off properly.

It was when the realization struck him that at the same time, Stiles pulled her closer, so that they were facing each other with mere inches separating their faces.

"-I'm an Alpha!" He missed the first part of whatever she said when she screamed at Stiles, but heard the last of the statement from the female one, her remaining eye red as she spat out the words and even from a distance, he could feel the power behind her words

Stiles though, didn't seem to have the same reaction. He only smiled widely before pulling out a gun similar to what Danny had used and aimed at her throat.

"Funny, so am I." Stiles replied and the gun went off, the impact throwing her against the wall of the room and leaving it splattered with blood and other matter that he didn't want to think about at all.

The girl gave out a choked scream, her hands scrabbling at her ruined throat before she spat out gobs of blood and flesh and let out a horrible gurgled scream before sliding to the ground, dead. Stiles turned away at the sound, but he didn't make a move toward the body. Instead, he put his gun away and moved away from the door, heading towards the left instead.

If he noticed them, he gave no indication of it as he moved away, leaving the corpse there.

"Did he just-"

Danny's statement was cut off when shouts came from behind the row that Stiles had left the dead Alpha lying in front of.

"Get over there!" Jackson ordered as they made their way towards the noise. He caught Danny's eye and motioned for him to go East. He was sure that it would be utterly stupid and pointless if they all swarmed and screwed up whatever plans of attack that Stiles had in mind. He looked at Scott and Isaac and directed them to the North and West. He turned and took the southern route, signalling Danny and Allison to go east and west and to keep their weapons out.

If they failed, at least they could have snipers to take the shots if they had no choice.

Danny nodded and headed off to the left while Allison sprinted to the east, her crossbow out and ready. Jackson watched her go and he put a burst of speed forward to get to the motel room first.

And in time to see the Alpha holding a badly bruised and beaten Derek. He was being held with his head back and the Alpha was pressing his claws so hard against the flesh that they had broken through the skin and leaving a steady trickle of blood to soak into his dirty tank top. His hands were tied in front of him and although he was looking sullen, his eyes showed that he was only just keeping himself under control.

Stiles too, looked like he was on the verge of losing it. But his old habits held hard and he just stood in a ready stance, his arms loose and easy and weapon free as he faced the Alpha and Derek. His eyes where the only thing that betrayed how upset he was, flashing red to dark brown and not settling on one particular colour.

"You can't move fast enough to save him." The Alpha taunted him, digging his claws deeper into Derek's throat to prove his point. Stiles snarled at him, but didn't make a reply.

"And you won't kill him. So we are at a stalemate." Stiles replied, his voice flat as he spoke.

"What makes you so sure?"

Stiles snorted.

"You wouldn't be talking to me otherwise. You would have already ripped his throat out if that was your aim. In front of me, because you'd know that would have killed me."

Stiles paused and his eyes widened fractionally at a sound that only he seemed to hear. But that was the only sign he made of being aware that he wasn't the only one there at that Motel.

"At least, that's what I would have done if I really meant it. But Derek's too valuable for you to kill off. Not to mention that he's breeding. No one is stupid enough to kill a breeder."

Stiles explained calmly, making the Alpha snarl at him and yank Derek closer, making him gasp out in pain.

Stiles saw this and his left hand moved. But it wasn't the aborted movement of someone that was holding himself back from reaching out. Jackson realized what it was a few seconds after he had seen it. He couldn't help but to look at Danny, who had perched himself in a tree and was now raising his gun.

"Then you know that I can't let him go." The Alpha stated, yanking Derek back in an effort to make his escape.

"And you know I can't let you go. Not with him." Stiles countered, his jaw twitching as his eyes moved to the left and to the right. It would have been a nervous tick, but Jackson knew better than to think that.

Just like he knew that the Alpha was going to do something and Derek was going to suffer for it. How he saw it, he couldn't explain. Only that it was going to happen.

Before he could act or bark out a warning, the Alpha grinned and Stiles was covering the distance and yanking Derek from his grip. One moment he was there, the other he was on the ground, his body covering Derek's as much as he was able.

"Danny! Allison! NOW!"

The words were barely out of his mouth, Jackson realized, when he saw the Alpha's body jerk violently as the bolts and bullets hit home.

The Alpha roared, but didn't fight back, the wolfsbane racing through his veins and making his body crumple and fall to the ground.

Stiles didn't turn to see if he was dead or not. He only had eyes for his mate, who was only staring at him with eyes full of shock. Stiles didn't react to Derek's shock as he sliced through the bonds and checked him over to make sure that he wasn't as badly hurt as he feared.

It was only when he felt Derek's heart beat and the rhythmic beats of his litter did he really look at Derek, who was staring at him blankly. Stiles breathed out a sigh of relief and pressed a kiss to his forehead and buried his face into Derek's neck.

"Is it over?"

Derek asked as he clung onto Stiles, his body finally relaxing at being in his true Alpha's arms again.

"Yeah. They're dead. All of them." Stiles assured him, wrapping his arms around Derek and holding him tightly, not caring that they were on the ground with a dead Alpha right behind them.

Derek made a soft noise in his throat at the contact and returned the embrace, only then noticing that Stiles' scent wasn't the same human scent that he had grown accustomed to, but was sharper and more woodsier than before. It almost mirrored his own when he was breeding. He stiffened when he realized it and Stiles lifted his head in response.

"Do you regret it?"

Stiles shook his head. "I didn't seek it out. That Alpha attacked me."

"Then why didn't you kill him?"

Stiles shook his head. "You're more important."

Derek went still at those words. "Stiles-"

"Derek. You are. I don't regret it. I lo-"

Stiles' throat hitched and he couldn't finish the words. He honestly couldn't begin to explain how much he loved Derek. How much it had gutted him to be lying on those stairs, feeling like he was bleeding his life out of his wounds while his mate and his children were stolen from him. How afraid he was that he was never going to see Derek again. Or his children. How he knew that even if he was dying, he was going to do everything in his power to save them.

He wet his lips and tried again, to tell him what was in his heart. But when he tried to speak, he found Derek's lips upon his. They were too warm, and dry and a bit chapped and he tasted a bit of blood. But it didn't matter. Nothing else mattered except that Derek was kissing him and he understood everything that Stiles couldn't, for once, find the words to say.

"I love you, Stiles." Derek whispered the moment that they pulled apart from the kiss. "Even if you cannot-"

Stiles swallowed and laughed softly. "No. It's funny...I can always find the words for anything, except this. It's not everyday that you get a mate, get said mate kidnapped away from you and turned into an Alpha. It's taking me a bit to process it."

Stiles drawled, before he looked straight into Derek's eyes.

"I love you, Derek. And you can tell if I'm lying when I say this: No price is too damned high to pay to save you. To save them."

Stiles whispered right before he smoothed his hand over Derek's belly, the touch careful and gentle and able to erase the feel of Eion's hands on him.

Derek's face broke into an exhausted smile before he let his head fall back onto the ground.

"We should get moving. As wonderful as this is...we need to get up. I want to go home and get the smell of him off of my skin."

Stiles grinned and that was the last thing he remembered seeing before he closed his eyes and sighed in relief that it was all finally over and done.

~*~*~*~*~

"How are they?" Scott asked Isaac as the Alpha came into the room, still soaking wet from the shower and toweling his messy curls dry with another one. After the day they all had, Scott wasn't going to begrudge him the shower or the fact that he had unceremoniously invited himself over to Scott's house.

And since he was now an Alpha, there was no way that Scott could even peep in protest. Not unless he wanted Isaac to pin him down and force him to give in.

Allison wasn't around anyway. She had opted to come home and take care of her father, who was still suffering the effects of the Alpha's attack. She also needed to clean up the house and had promised to keep in touch with them later.

Isaac turned to look at his phone before replying to Scott's question.

"Last they told me, Derek and Stiles are back at Stiles' house. Jackson and Danny are there too. It's just downtime now."

Scott nodded and looked away as Isaac went to a pile of clothes he had left there earlier. Although he had gotten used to nudity, he wasn't comfortable with seeing Isaac stripping with such careless grace.

"What about the bodies?"

"Leave them. The Sheriff will come up with something. Besides, it was pretty damned clear that they killed the motel workers and the few guests there."

Isaac replied, making Scott look up and breathe a sigh of relief when he saw him completely dressed. Isaac didn't notice his discomfort and instead flopped down on his bed.

Scot nodded and looked at the posters on his wall. He really did need to re-decorate, he mused. Maybe now that it was all done, he could ask Allison for help. Or maybe Stiles...

"Hey...so do you think everything's going to be cool with Stiles now?"

He asked, turning towards Isaac, who was sitting there with his eyes closed. He opened one eye and looked at Scott before shrugging.

"Maybe. But you should give him some time. He maybe your best friend, but he's an Alpha in his own right. And...you were a bit of an idiot before hand."

Scott made a face and was about to protest when Isaac just looked at him and he shut his mouth.

"Yeah...I guess. I just...yeah. Shove over now. I want to sleep."

Isaac shrugged and obliged.

"Only this once, and only because I feel sorry for you."

"Wow. Thanks. Seriously. You're the soul of generosity."

"What did I say, Scott?"

"Okay. Okay."

~*~*~*~

"How is he?" the Sheriff asked as he poured out a cup of herbal tea. It wasn't his usual drink choice, but his nerves were too jangled for any caffeine and he figured that his son was in the same situation.

"Sleeping. As he should be. Not just because he's pregnant, but because of what those bastards did to him."

Stiles replied as he accepted the cup and took a sip while watching his father sit down across the way from him.

"And I know that's not something you get over fast."

His father nodded and took a drink of the tea that tasted like grass to him , but left him calmer than he had been the last twenty-four hours.

"So what happens now?"

Stiles shrugged and put his cup down. He scrubbed his face with his hands before he looked at his father.

"I don't know, Dad. I honestly don't know. I never had a plan in case I survived. I didn't think I was going to."

The Sheriff nodded. "I know that feeling. When you don't expect to come through to the other side and when you do...you have no idea where to go from there.It's like a bomb exploded behind you and you're the only one left standing in the middle of the wreckage."

Stiles nodded in understanding.

"So what do I do?"

"We clean up. You move that wolf of yours in and you get on with life."

"Does it work?"

"We're here aren't we?"

"Yeah."

"There's your answer. Now get upstairs son. Tomorrow will come all too shortly and you didn't sacrifice that much to just be here with your old man."

"You're my family."

"And your man's upstairs. Get going."

"All right, Dad. All right."

Stiles protested, but still did as he was told and put the mug in the sink before turning around and hugging his dad tightly.

"Night, Dad."

"Night,Stiles."

 


	10. If You Believe In Me, I Believe In You, I'm With You...If You Want Me To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of Derek's life without a family and a pack are done and Stiles' days as an Alpha and family man have just begun, something neither of them has expected, yet are grateful to get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the end. Wow. I seriously didn't expect for this story to go this way. It's been a great ride. Thanks all who commented, read and gave kudos. I'm honestly so stoked that you liked it that much. Greatly appreciated and I'm glad that I could write something that you all liked so much. Cheers!
> 
> Title comes from The Stills "I'm With You"

Isaac was wide awake when he heard the door open and sat up to see who it was that was leaving the house.

"Hey, it's just me. Go back to sleep." Isaac smiled and sat up, disregarding Stiles' order.

"Midnight craving run?" He asked, rubbing his face and raking his curls up to wake up a little more. He was about to pull the sheets back from his makeshift bed on the couch and see if Stiles wanted company. Sometimes, if the request was specific, they would end up driving to Beacon Heights and make a stop at the coffee shop and talk.

Although Derek felt a bit put off by having to wait a bit extra for his craving to be fulfilled, he didn't begrudge the extra Alpha bonding time. Especially not when he understood that sometimes, the two Alphas needed time alone to figure out their new standings and what they needed to do now that the message that the Hale pack was back and would defend their territory if it came to that.

Other packs had come to meet with them and to draw up treaties in the meantime and Isaac had been asked time and time again if he was going to set up his own pack. There had been many nights that Isaac and Stiles had sat on the hood of his jeep and spoken about that, always ending with Isaac turning down the opportunity. At least until he had finished school and the litter had been born.

"I owe you all that much, at least." Isaac had told him as they had drank cokes and eaten curly fries the last time it had been brought up.

Stiles had wanted to protest, but Isaac had shut it down. He was usually passive, but when it came to things that mattered to him...he was a rock. So Stiles had let it go and instead had planned another room in the Stilinski house as they had rebuilt it again.

"Yeah. Nutella and waffles this time around. Not a long run this time. Sorry to wake you up."

Isaac nodded and decided to stay in bed. Even if they did go for a drive, it would be too short to speak, since both of them took a while to warm up to their subject and talk. Really talk. Stiles still hadn't gotten a handle on his compulsive babbling and Isaac tended to tune him out and get lost in his thoughts if that was the case, so they needed the long rides if they were actually going to say anything of importance.

"No worries. Although I'll be glad when the room is done."

"Yeah. I know. Catch you in a few."

Isaac yawned and rolled over to face the couch.

"Yeah. Night."

~*~*~*~*~

Stiles stirred the sugar into his tea almost absentmindedly and yawned widely. Glancing at the clock, he winced at the time.

"It is for Derek and that's all that matters." He muttered to himself as he realized that he had gone out to get blueberry waffles and Nutella at four in the morning for Derek. Who was eating said waffles upstairs and had actually grossed Stiles out with the sheer amount of sugar. So much so that he had chosen to go downstairs and have some tea until he was sure that Derek's cravings had been satisfied and he could go upstairs again.

He knew that it was love, because he would have tried to talk his way out of it otherwise.It had been miserable and rainy for the past week or so and along with the autumn chill coming...it wasn't exactly the best of times for any of them.

Especially not for Derek, who had been fine with the Spring warmth and Summer heat. He had spent most of his time on the front porch in a comfortable chair that Stiles and his father had dragged out from somewhere in the house reading. Although Stiles had been tempted to tease him, he more often than not cuddled with Derek and uncomplainingly rubbed lotion onto his expanding belly.

And the surprising thing was that Derek didn't give a damn who saw them like that. He actually tended to initiate most of their cuddling sessions. Sessions that sometimes ended up with them awkwardly hurrying upstairs to their room and finishing with Stiles buried deep inside Derek, pressing kisses on his temples when he was done.

But now that the repairs were done and the weather had turned nasty, Derek had started to suffer more from it. He missed the warmth of summer and the pregnancy was starting to take its toll on him. He couldn't move easily, couldn't shift to run and the confinement was wreaking havoc on his nerves, and by extension, Stiles.

Stiles rubbed his face and yawned, trying again to not worry about running interference with Derek and the rest of the pack. He still had the ringing in his ears from when Scott, the stubborn moron, had decided to challenge a hormonal Derek on pack hierarchy again. No one had been happy and Stiles had to physically be restrained by Isaac and Jackson from inflicting permanent wounds on Scott.

As it was, Scott had to stay away from the Stilinski house for at least three weeks before Stiles and Derek had both calmed down to forgive him. Isaac had been the intermediary then and whatever he had said to Scott had worked, since there were no more challenges or fights, something that Stiles had been pathetically grateful for. Isaac had pointed that out, but Stiles hadn't cared. He owed Isaac for the peace, great sex, and cuddling that had come right after, so he let it slide. He did still have a sense of humor and he liked having Isaac around and hoped that the other Alpha would stay.

So far, he had and it was because of the connection he had with Derek and the litter to be born. As well as developing a bond with Stiles' dad that although occasionally made him jealous, he could understand. Isaac needed a father figure and although Derek had been a decent stand-in, the Sheriff was more than willing to take the place. So he could share his dad much more easily than he could share Derek.

Especially now that the whelping time was so close.

Yawning, he took one last drink and put the mug in the sink, rinsing it off before heading upstairs to see if Derek was done with his snack. Even if he wasn't, he was too tired to hang out in the kitchen any longer. Shrugging, he went upstairs and entered the room.

He found Derek waiting for him and the leftovers of the snack packed away neatly and sitting on the desk waiting to be taken downstairs.

"I'm surprised you're still up." Stiles greeted him, sliding into bed and kissing his forehead, cheeks and then his mouth.

"I couldn't sleep. The children missed you. I also missed you." Derek replied as he was pulled into Stiles' arms. Stiles hid a smile as he buried his nose into Derek's hair, which had grown longer as the pregnancy had progressed and breathed in the scent of faint musk and milk.

"Well, I'm here now. You should get some sleep while you still can." Stiles whispered as he gently cupped the round curve of his mate's belly. He splayed his fingers and gently rubbed the taut skin, making Derek let out a moan of contentment at the touch.

"They get restless when you're not around. They know who their Alpha is." Derek murmured, his voice low and soft Stiles kept on touching him, signalling that he was falling asleep, much to Stiles' relief.

He didn't stop rubbing Derek's belly until he heard his mate's heartbeat slow down and his breathing settle into a regular pattern. He was glad that Derek had gone back to sleep. After the chill and rains had come, Derek hadn't slept well and not much during the night.

He had been afraid that it was going to be another one of those sleepless nights, but Derek was asleep and he knew he was close to following him into sleep himself. He needed to be up in a few hours for school and he knew that if he missed any more, he would be hopelessly behind and wash up the entire first semester.

Yawning heavily, he reached past Derek and turned off the light, falling asleep once it was off.

~*~*~*~*~

"Stiles! Stiles!"

"Huh? What? I swear dad, it was only temporary!"

Stiles babbled, sitting up and blinking at the sudden awakening.

"Stiles! Wake up! They're coming!"

As soon as he heard those words, he was completely and fully wide awake and looking at his mate, who was curled up and grimacing in agony as the contractions hit him. Stiles could only gape for a few moments before the changed smell of his mate-blood, milk and a sharp acrid smell of pain.

"Right. Just...I'll go get-"

"No!" Derek growled out, his eyes going blue in his distress. "I can't...I don't think I can do this alone. Please."

Stiles nodded and swallowed hard at the request.

"I'll stay. Believe me, I'll stay. But just let me tell someone, so that they can get Deaton, okay?"

Derek pressed his lips together and made a noise that Stiles took as agreement before Stiles rushed downstairs.

"Stiles! Is it time?"

Stiles breathed a sigh of relief at having another Alpha in the house, since he too could sense Derek's distress and the pups on their way.

"Yeah. Can you call Deaton? We need him here fast."

Isaac nodded, his breakfast forgotten as he picked up his phone and made the call. Stiles rushed back upstairs and nearly reeled when the smell of blood hit his nose.

"Shit." He whispered as he rushed inside to find Derek naked and kneeling by the foot of the bed, his back arched as the pain of another contraction hit him.

"They're coming already?!" Stiles asked, his voice going high in alarm as he rushed over to Derek's side.

"Yes! Soon!" Derek ground out, his eyes completely blue as he bore down the pain of his contractions.

"What do you want me to do?" Stiles asked, panicking slightly at the thought of having to deliver his own children before Deaton got in.

"Get ready to catch!"

"What?!"

"NOW!"

~*~*~*~*~

"So where are my grandchildren?" Sheriff Stilinski asked as he entered the house.

"Upstairs. In their room." Scott answered as he and Allison busied themselves with dinner. Isaac was nearby, cutting up vegetables and keeping an eye on the other wolf and his hunter girlfriend.

Despite Scott's behaviour, he couldn't stay away from his friend and the litter that was being born. He could feel the pack calling and had come with Allison in tow to make amends for his earlier screw ups. Isaac understood, but hadn't let either of them upstairs and had instead decided that the best place for them was the kitchen. At least until Deaton came downstairs and told them that the four new pack members had arrived safely and to not bother the new family till the evening at least. Directions that Isaac had strictly reinforced by making Scott and Allison help with an elaborate dinner.

"Are they all right?" The Sheriff asked before he headed upstairs.

"Yeah. Doc Deaton assured us of it. They might be sleeping by now. But they would like to see you."

Isaac replied, his face soft with happiness as he dumped the vegetables into a pot.

Sheriff Stilinski breathed a sigh of relief at hearing that. "Good."

Scott nodded and waved him upstairs, a gesture that Sheriff Stilinski didn't see as he took the stairs.

~*~*~*~*

Derek could hardly keep his eyes open, the births having taken his toll on him. He moved and groaned at the unaccustomed ache in his lower body. Deaton said it would pass in a day or two and not move so much. Derek had laughed at that. How could he stay still when he had four pups to take care of?

Speaking of said pups, he turned his head to see Stiles curled on his side, his head propped up on his arm while he watched the pups, who lay sleeping between them.

"I can't believe they're finally here, as cliched as that sounds."

Stiles murmured as his hands ghosted over his son's heads, not quite touching their dark heads as they slept, swaddled in soft, fleecy blankets.

"I know. It's...I still can't believe it. But here they are. The continuation of our pack."

Derek whispered, his eyes nearly closing as he slurred out the words.

"Our Pack." Stiles agreed his hand reaching out to intertwine with his mate's own.

"I know I don't say this enough, but I love you, Stiles. Truly, I do."

Stiles smiled, his eyes slightly wet before he leaned over and kissed his mate.

"I know. I know. Just like they'll know it too."

Derek smiled. "That they will."

Stiles opened his mouth, but closed it when there was a loud knock on the door.

"Yeah?"

"Stiles? Derek? Can I meet my grandsons now?"

Stiles turned to Derek.

"You ready?"

Derek nodded.

"Come in, Dad!"

Sheriff Stilinski opened the door and his face softened and his eyes teared up when he took in the sight of Derek, Stiles and the babies lying on the bed.

"Wow. You guys...you did good. You did good."

The Sheriff whispered as he carefully sat down on the last empty stretch of bed and reached out to touch each one gently and carefully, making Stiles wonder if he had done the same with him when he had been born.

Derek only watched him, remembering how his own father had looked when his younger siblings had been brought home. He had never thought that he would ever see that expression again. He bit his lower lip to keep his emotions under control. All of what he thought he'd never have...he had received in spades.

"It's okay." Stiles whispered, squeezing his hand to let him know that he was there and he understood.

"Yeah. I know."

"Good. Good."

"Have you decided on names yet?"

Stiles looked at Derek before he replied.

"Tyler, Dylan, Jaroslav and Eguzki. Couldn't let the family tradition of unpronounceable names die now could I?"

"Stiles!"

END.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Names-Jaroslav is a popular Slavic name, goes with the Stilinski background and yeah, I also ADORE Jaroslav Halak, who is an NHL goalie for the St. Louis Blues. Eguzki is Basque and means "Sunshine" 
> 
> I figured that Stiles, despite having a love/hate relationship with his name, as all of us with odd names do, would probably pass them down, since he understands the importance of family names. He will probably give them some kind of nicknames that Derek will not approve of, you can bet that. Because he's Stiles.


End file.
